Donald Trump rolled over competitors Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz in a super Super Tuesday of voting, in which the GOP’s presidential front-runner sailed to crucial wins in six states and remained locked in a tight race in one other.
The bombastic billionaire was declared the winner in Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Virginia, Arkansas and Tennessee, and remained in a dead heat with his competitors in Vermont.
Sen. Ted Cruz, meanwhile, delivered a pair of big victories — in his home state of Texas and in neighboring Oklahoma — putting substantial distance between himself and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the race for the second-place anti-Trump spot in the GOP.
In a rambling and enthusiastic speech at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Trump congratulated himself and took direct aim at Rubio, calling him a “lightweight” who “had a tough night.”
ELECTION 2016: LIVE SUPER TUESDAY VOTING RESULTS
“He decided to become Don Rickles,” Trump said of Rubio’s newly aggressive approach toward the mogul, referencing the Queens-born stand-up comedian. “But Don Rickles has a lot more talent.”
Trump also promised to knock Rubio — around whom dozens of establishment GOP lawmakers have rallied around in recent weeks to grow a cohesive anti-Trump movement — from the race by spending “so much time in Florida” and winning the Sunshine State’s March 15 primary.
The bombastic billionaire’s speech capped a “yuge” night, in which he was declared the winner in Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts and Tennessee as soon as polls closed in the states, while in Virginia and Arkansas, the race was called for Trump hours after polls closed.
Trump, riding a three-state winning streak into Super Tuesday, had been heavily favored to carry all six states, according to polls taken before March 1. He was also expected to win Alaska, where returns are expected later in the evening.
His early wins — in addition to the ones expected later in the night — put the businessman well on his way to collecting the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the GOP nomination.
Nearly 600 were up for grabs Tuesday night, and even with the proportional allotment of them governed by Republican Party rules, Trump was expected to win the majority of them.
The bombastic billionaire was declared the winner in Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Virginia, Arkansas and Tennessee, and remained in a dead heat with his competitors in Vermont.
Sen. Ted Cruz, meanwhile, delivered a pair of big victories — in his home state of Texas and in neighboring Oklahoma — putting substantial distance between himself and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the race for the second-place anti-Trump spot in the GOP.
In a rambling and enthusiastic speech at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Trump congratulated himself and took direct aim at Rubio, calling him a “lightweight” who “had a tough night.”
ELECTION 2016: LIVE SUPER TUESDAY VOTING RESULTS
“He decided to become Don Rickles,” Trump said of Rubio’s newly aggressive approach toward the mogul, referencing the Queens-born stand-up comedian. “But Don Rickles has a lot more talent.”
Trump also promised to knock Rubio — around whom dozens of establishment GOP lawmakers have rallied around in recent weeks to grow a cohesive anti-Trump movement — from the race by spending “so much time in Florida” and winning the Sunshine State’s March 15 primary.
The bombastic billionaire’s speech capped a “yuge” night, in which he was declared the winner in Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts and Tennessee as soon as polls closed in the states, while in Virginia and Arkansas, the race was called for Trump hours after polls closed.
Trump, riding a three-state winning streak into Super Tuesday, had been heavily favored to carry all six states, according to polls taken before March 1. He was also expected to win Alaska, where returns are expected later in the evening.
His early wins — in addition to the ones expected later in the night — put the businessman well on his way to collecting the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the GOP nomination.
Nearly 600 were up for grabs Tuesday night, and even with the proportional allotment of them governed by Republican Party rules, Trump was expected to win the majority of them.
