Donald Trump has been declared the winner of Tennessee’s Republican primary in what is shaping up as a dominant Super Tuesday for the celebrity real estate mogul from New York.
The Associated Press projected the Volunteer State for Trump shortly after the polls closed at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, are battling for second and third in Tennessee. They are followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
The win for Trump in Tennessee comes despite frantic last-minute efforts from the state’s GOP establishment to try to stop his rise by unifying behind Rubio. Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Haslam and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., each endorsed Rubio over the past week and campaigned alongside him Monday in Knoxville.
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Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton scored a resounding win in the Tennessee Democratic primary, as she looked to run up the score against rival Bernie Sanders in a dozen states around the country voting on Super Tuesday.
With early returns showing her with a clear advantage in the Volunteer State, the Associated Press has declared a victory for Clinton.
As results from other states continue to be tallied, Clinton is expected to see significant victories in places such as Virginia and Texas — key states that would help catapult her toward the Democratic nomination.
Clinton and Sanders were competing for their share of Tennessee’s 76 delegates, the sixth-most among Democratic primaries held on Tuesday.
SOURCE: The Tennessean
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