Sen. Ted Cruz, speaking as the results of the Nevada caucuses were being tallied, argued Tuesday evening that he was the only Republican left in the race who could beat Donald Trump.
“They’re still counting the ballots so we don’t know the exact results, but I want to congratulate Donald Trump on a strong evening tonight and I want to congratulate the grass roots – the conservatives across this country who have come together behind this campaign,” Cruz told supporters at a YMCA in Las Vegas.
Cruz, who was battling with Sen. Marco Rubio for a second-place finish, argued that he had history on his side since he won the Iowa caucuses, the first of the GOP presidential nominating contests.
Donald Trump, flanked by his sons at a Las Vegas casino Tuesday evening, exuberantly declared victory in Nevada less than an hour after the caucuses closed, saying that his success would be good for the nation.
“Soon the country is going to start winning, winning, winning,” he said.
Trump thanked his volunteers and then predicted success in upcoming states, including Sen. Ted Cruz’s home state of Texas and Gov. John Kasich’s home state of Ohio.
At Donald Trump’s victory party at the Treasure Island casino resort in LasVegas, a few hundred supporters erupted in cheers when the results were announced on TV monitors the moment the polls closed.
“He stands for the things I like,” said Mike Schoch, a 62-year-old Las Vegas limo driver wearing a “Hillary You’re Fired” cap. “I’d like to see the wall go up. The Vatican’s got one. Why can’t we?”
Shelley Rubin, 62, was enjoying the festive mood as the crowd waited for Trump to speak. She caucused for him earlier in the evening at a local high school.
Ben Carson captured about 7% of the vote in Nevada's Republican caucuses Tuesday night.
But the results weren't the whole story, he suggested.
"I believe things are starting to happen here," the retired neurosurgeon told his supporters after the vote.
Donald Trump won the Nevada Republican presidential caucuses on Tuesday, strengthening his bid for the party’s nomination after similarly decisive victories in the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries.
The New York billionaire’s victory came a week before a dozen Super Tuesday contests that could move Trump closer to becoming the prohibitive favorite in the competition for party delegates.