Add another 58 delegates to Donald Trump’s commanding lead in the Republican presidential nominating contest. The real estate mogul has been declared the projected winner of the Arizona primary on Tuesday night by the major networks. Because Arizona is a winner-take-all contest, Trump adds the state’s entire docket to his total.
Trump headed into Tuesday with a large delegate lead over his remaining primary opponents, with 680 delegates to 423 for Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and 143 for Gov. John Kasich of Ohio. While Trump is still a long way from the 1,237 delegates he needs to secure a first-ballot win at July’s Republican National Convention, his continued success in winner-take-all states makes it increasingly difficult for the Dump Trump crowd to stop his nomination.
People had to stand in long lines at polling sites across Arizona, Idaho, and Utah to cast their ballots for the presidential primaries. The Associated Press reported that in Maricopa County, Arizona, a cutback in the number of sites from 200 in 2012 to 60 resulted in extended waits.