Full Super Tuesday coverage: Cruz wins Alaska, Trump and Clinton on collision course toward general election

With most of the precincts in, Sen. Ted Cruz has won the Alaska caucuses. 

It is his third Super Tuesday win.

Track the results with us here.

Slow counting and long lines are one reason we may not have a result in Alaska for another few hours. 

You can track results here. 

Although he won in Minnesota, Marco Rubio's failure to win anywhere else on Super Tuesday raises fresh questions about the Florida senator's strategy to secure the Republican presidential nomination.

Rubio's broad losses were not a surprise in the conservative South.

But his rationale for staying in the race was undermined when rival Ted Cruz picked up his home state of Texas and neighboring Oklahoma, giving Cruz a total of three states to Rubio's one.

That has given Cruz a strong case to argue that he, rather than Rubio, is best positioned to take on front-runner Donald Trump.

On a night when Marco Rubio is in need of good news, Virginia gave his campaign a good talking point: According to exit polls, voters who made up their mind the latest tended to break disproportionately his way.

Indeed, 43% of voters who decided in the last few days went to the Florida senator, compared with 17% who opted for Donald Trump.

In general, most voters settled on a candidate at least a month ago, if not earlier, and they tended to overwhelmingly back Trump, the night's big winner.

But the outcome in other states was hardly uniform among those who decided more recently.

In Tennessee, for instance, 4 in 10 late deciders opted for Ted Cruz, while about a third went for Rubio.

In Alabama, Trump surpassed 50% among voters who decided in the last month or before, but those who decided in the last few few days split almost evenly for Trump, Rubio and Cruz.

In Arkansas, Trump dominated Republicans who decided more than a month ago, but fell to just 12% among those who were late deciders, with Rubio and Cruz again running neck-and-neck.

In Georgia and Oklahoma, Rubio and Cruz were essentially tied among voters who decided in the last few days.

The exception was Massachusetts, where Trump won no matter when the voters decided.

For Republicans on Super Tuesday, only one state — Virginia — does not have a minimum statewide vote threshold candidates need to reach to win delegates.

And according to an early estimate by the state GOP, although Donald Trump was the overall winner, he netted only one more delegate than runner-up Marco Rubio:

• Trump -- 17 delegates
• Rubio -- 16
• Ted Cruz -- 8
• John Kasich -- 5
• Ben Carson -- 3

The Virginia Republican Party also reported a record turnout for the presidential primary in the state, with more than 1 million votes cast — typical in a cycle in which Republican turnout has surpassed that of Democrats.

Track the delegate fight here. 

Since New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie endorsed Donald Trump last week, the two have campaigned around the country together.

On Tuesday night, Christie introduced Trump at a victory party in Palm Beach, Fla., after the billionaire businessman had put at least five more states into his victory column.

For the next half hour or so, while Trump conducted a free-wheeling news conference, Christie stood just behind him, staring at the side of Trump's head with a mournful look that led to several jokes on Twitter.

But Christie, who dropped out of the race last month after coming in sixth in New Hampshire, faces more serious problems back home.

In a joint editorial, six New Jersey newspapers called on Christie -- who is serving his second term -- to resign.

"We’re disgusted with his endorsement of Donald Trump after he spent months on the campaign trail trashing him," the editorial reads.

"And we’re fed up with his continuing travel out of state on New Jersey’s dime, stumping for Trump."

In New Hampshire, the Union-Leader newspaper, which had endorsed Christie's presidential bid, wrote an editorial saying it had been "wrong" to support Christie.

A crowd of several hundred cheered, applauded and chanted "Ted!" as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz joined his family on stage Tuesday night to celebrate his home-state primary win, Super Tuesday's biggest delegate prize.

When Cruz jabbed at front-runner Donald Trump's sometimes crude language, father of two David Lineman shouted in agreement, raising his fist.

"This is the only man I would have my kids model themselves on," said Lineman, 52, of Houston, who works in computer security and has two children, ages 5 and 6. 

"We want them to grow up and have faith in government and America," he said.

After Cruz finished, Lineman and his wife were energized, despite Trump's sweep of Southern Super Tuesday states, save for Cruz's victories in Texas and neighboring Oklahoma.

His wife, a school counselor, called Trump "a used-car salesman" and "a con artist." They have friends who couldn't be persuaded not to vote for Trump.

Now, Lineman said, they hope Cruz can "consolidate all the opposition to Trump."

"He's the only one can pull it all together. He's really such a class guy," Lineman said.

"We're still holding out hope."

With five Super Tuesday wins under his belt and more still possible, Donald Trump brushed off new concerns about a fractured Republican Party and said he was ready to take the fight to Hillary Clinton — if she's even allowed to run.

"Believe me: I am a unifier," Trump told reporters. "We are going to be a much finer party. We're going to be a unified party. We're going to be a much bigger party. Our party is expanding."

Trump opted for a prime-time news conference in an opulent ballroom of the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., instead of a traditional election-night rally.

And over the course of more than 30 minutes, the billionaire GOP front-runner opined on rival Marco Rubio — "He's nasty" — and brushed off the controversy over David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan — "I disavowed! How many times are you supposed to disavow?"

He reiterated his signature pledge to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border: "This is going to be a very serious wall," but insisted he still got along great with Latinos.

And as he has done for months, he railed against policies that he said have boosted foreign economies instead of this country's — vowing to make Apple produce computers and iPhones here — all while insisting he had the temperament to lead the country.

"I'm going to get along with the world," he said.

Trump was introduced by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie but there was not, as had been reported and speculated, an endorsement from Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

Even as Trump insisted he was growing, not fracturing, the party, he was hardly receptive to its leaders.

On House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, he said he was sure they would get along great. "And if I don't, he’s going to have to pay a big price," he said.

Ultimately, though, Trump said Republicans would realize he stood the best chance of beating Clinton.

"'Make America great again' is going to be much better than making America whole again," he said, referring to the Democratic front-runner's remarks earlier in the night.

Ted Cruz, speaking to raucous supporters at a suburban Houston country club, urged his rivals Tuesday night to drop out of the presidential race so he could confront Donald Trump one-on-one.

“The voters have spoken,” he said. “Tomorrow morning, we have a choice. So long as the field remains divided, Donald Trump’s path to the nomination remains more likely -- and that would be a disaster for Republicans, for conservatives and for the nation.”

Cruz, who won primaries in Texas and Oklahoma, pointed out that he is the only GOP candidate to win other than Trump, who snagged most of the states on Super Tuesday.

The other three Republican candidates - Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Dr. Ben Carson - have yet to win any of the first 15 contests.

“Republicans, together, we have a choice," Cruz said. "We are blessed with a deep, talented, honorable field. For the candidates who have not yet won a state, who have not racked up significant delegates, I ask you to prayerfully consider our coming together. Uniting."

“For those who have supported other candidates, we welcome you on our team standing united as one. That is the only way to beat Donald Trump head-to-head. Our campaign beats Donald Trump resoundingly. But for that to happen, we must come together.”