Trump triumphs in South Carolina, Jeb Bush suspends campaign
Another Republican candidate falls by the wayside as the anti-Trump race intensifies.
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Hawke’s Bay
Donald Trump won the South Carolina Republican primary, driving Jeb Bush out of the race and intensifying the fight between Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio as the best anti-Trump candidate.
Mr Trump received another boost to his campaign, scoring 32.5% to Messrs Cruz and Rubio, each with just over 22% each.
Jeb Bush, who trailed with 7.8%, announced he was suspending his campaign.
Meanwhile, in Nevada, Hillary Clinton had a convincing over Bernie Sanders in the Democratic caucuses, by 52.6% to 47.4%.
It was her second win after a loss in New Hampshire and confirmed her pre-poll lead.
Mr Trump is likely to secure all of North Carolina’s 50 delegates at the Republican convention and retrench his position as the leading candidate.
But with the majority voting for Messrs Cruz and Rubio, the anti-Trump faction is holding fast.
The latter is likely to get the Bush vote while John Kasich (7.6%), the other centrist and establishment candidate, and Ben Carson (7.2%) also holding on.
Mr Kasich has his main eye on the large Michigan primary on March 8 as well as his home state of Ohio, the so-called "swing" state.
“We are the only campaign that has beaten [in Iowa] and can beat Donald Trump,” Mr Cruz told his supporters, who represent the conservative wing of the Republicans.
Yet Mr Trump showed his background and lack of political credentials is no obstacles to winning support in a core state of the US Bible Belt.
The Republican campaign now moves to Nevada for caucuses on February 25, while the Democrats have their next primary vote in South Carolina.
After that, Republicans vote in 11 states on March 1. Most of them are in the South as well as Texas, which Mr Cruz represents in the Senate.
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Nevil Gibson
Sun, 21 Feb 2016
Sun, 21 Feb 2016
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Trump triumphs in South Carolina, Jeb Bush suspends campaign
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