The Latest: Ted Cruz wins Alaska caucuses to wrap Super Tuesday
WASHINGTON – The Latest on campaign 2016 on Super Tuesday (all times local):
3:45 a.m.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has won the Republican presidential caucuses in Alaska. It’s his third win on Super Tuesday, adding to victories in the Texas and Oklahoma primaries.
Cruz adds 12 delegates to his total with the win in Alaska. Donald Trump will take home 11 delegates from the state, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio gets five delegates.
Cruz’s win in Alaska is the final Super Tuesday contest. The 2016 presidential race will resume on Saturday, with primary elections and caucuses in Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine and Nebraska.
1:16 p.m.
Hillary Clinton’s solid Super Tuesday has widened her delegate lead over Bernie Sanders.
She is assured of winning at least 457 of the 865 delegates at stake for the night. Sanders will gain at least 286. There are 122 delegates that remain to be allocated, depending on the margin of victory in several states and congressional districts.
Going into Super Tuesday, Clinton had held a 26-delegate advantage based on wins from primaries and caucuses.
Her delegate lead is actually much bigger when including superdelegates.
When including those party leaders, Clinton has at least 1,005 delegates. Sanders has at least 373. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the nomination.
1:08 a.m.
Donald Trump added to his lead in the race for delegates on Super Tuesday. But his gains were muted because every state awarded delegates in proportion to the vote, so even candidates who lost still collected delegates.
Trump won at least 192 delegates in Tuesday’s contests. Ted Cruz collected at least 132 delegates and Marco Rubio picked up at least 66.
John Kasich won at least 19 delegates and Ben Carson won at least three.
There were 595 Republican delegates at stake in 11 states. There were still 183 delegates left to be allocated.
Overall, Trump leads with 274 delegates. Cruz has 149, Rubio has 82, Kasich has 25 and Carson has eight.
It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president.
12:33 a.m.
Donald Trump has built a sizeable lead in the race for delegates by winning at least seven states on Super Tuesday.
Trump won at least 186 delegates in Tuesday’s presidential primary contests. Ted Cruz collected at least 125 delegates and Marco Rubio picked up at least 62.
John Kasich won at least 18 delegates and Ben Carson has won at least three.
There were 595 Republican delegates at stake in 11 states.
Overall, Trump leads with 268 delegates. Cruz has 142, Rubio has 78, Kasich has 24 and Carson has eight.
It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president.
12:15 a.m.
Hillary Clinton has won a majority of Super Tuesday delegates.
Her wins in seven states have now earned her 441 of the 865 delegates at stake for the evening. Sanders is on track to win at least 262.
The Democratic contests award delegates in proportion to the vote, meaning that even the loser wins some. Votes are still being tallied to determine the final margins of victory in several states.
Including superdelegates, Clinton now has at least 989 delegates in the overall AP delegate count. Sanders has at least 349.
11:55 p.m.
Donald Trump has won the Republican presidential primary in Vermont, claiming his latest victory in the string of nomination contests known as Super Tuesday.
His win in Vermont places him well-ahead of his rivals who significantly trail him in delegates. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won contests in Oklahoma and Texas Tuesday, and Sen. Marco Rubio scored his first win in Minnesota. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson have not won any of the races since the nomination contest began a month ago.
11:50 p.m.
It was a hard-fought win for Hillary Clinton in Massachusetts, helping her solidify her overall delegate lead so far over Bernie Sanders.
With 91 delegates at stake, the two candidates are on track to split spoils in that state fairly evenly. Clinton will pick up at least 44; Sanders will gain at least 41.
For the evening, Clinton has now won at least 421 of the 865 delegates at stake, and Sanders at least 232.
Including superdelegates, Clinton now has at least 969 delegates. Sanders has at least 319. It takes 2,382 delegates to win.
11:35 p.m.
Hillary Clinton has won the Democratic presidential primary in Massachusetts, picking up her first victory in rival Bernie Sanders’ native New England.
Not including this win, Clinton picked up victories in six states, including Texas as well as the American Samoa, overtaking Sanders’ victories in smaller states such as Vermont and Oklahoma.
Clinton held a solid delegate lead for the night even prior to her Massachusetts win, having won six of the 11 states at stake. She has won at least 377 delegates from the Super Tuesday contests; Sanders has gained at least 191.
11:20 p.m.
Democrat Bernie Sanders has earned his latest win in the Super Tuesday nomination contest, this time in Minnesota.
The Vermont senator won the state’s caucuses, beating rival Hillary Clinton in his fourth win of the night.
He also won contests in Colorado, Oklahoma and his home state of Vermont.
11:15 p.m.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has won the Republican presidential caucuses in Minnesota, earning his first victory in the 2016 race for the White House.
Rubio won second place in Nevada and South Carolina but still trails rivals Donald Trump and fellow Sen. Ted Cruz in the much-needed delegates needed to win his party’s nomination.
But Rubio has won overwhelming support from members of Congress and governors who see him as the most viable alternative to the billionaire businessman, who holds a commanding lead in delegates a month into the contest.
11:10 p.m.
Bernie Sanders won the Minnesota Democratic caucus, claiming his third victory in the string of contests known as Super Tuesday.
Sanders also won Oklahoma and his home state of Vermont.
His rival, Hillary Clinton, captured Virginia, Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee.
A few states have yet to be called.
Sanders had also claimed a victory in the New Hampshire primary last month but trails Clinton in the delegate chase.
10:30 p.m.
Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham says the only way to stop Donald Trump from becoming the GOP nominee and winning the general election may be to rally behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
“Ted Cruz is not by favorite by any means,” Graham, a former candidate, told CBS News on Super Tuesday, when a dozen states held contests to choose party nominees. “But we may be in a position where rallying around Ted Cruz is the only way to stop Donald Trump and I’m not so sure that would work.”
Graham called both Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton “crazy” and said the Republican party is bound to lose to Clinton if an alternative to Trump is not found.
He joked that his comments should be taken with a grain of salt since his own presidential campaign did not get off the ground.
10:25 p.m.
Ted Cruz is drawing sharp contrasts between himself and Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
He said he and Trump differ on Israel, the Iranian nuclear deal and the possibility of compromising over a choice for the Supreme Court.
He also asked if parents would be willing to vote for a candidate whose words “you wouldn’t want your children to repeat.”
Cruz captured two states during the string of contests known as Super Tuesday: Oklahoma and his home state of Texas. Trump won six.
Neither John Kasich nor Mario Rubio has won a state and Cruz strongly suggested they should drop out so the anti-Trump factions could coalesce around him.
10:22 p.m.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson told a crowded banquet hall at a hotel in downtown Baltimore that he’s not giving up, despite trailing behind all the other Republican candidates on Super Tuesday.
Carson took the stage Tuesday at the Grand Hotel in Baltimore and called the political system “rotten to the core.”
“They have weaved such a complex web,” Carson said.
Carson did not mention any of his opponents by name, but told his supporters, “our nation is in horrible trouble. Why sit there and talk about each other and tear each other down when we have such important issues to deal with?”
10:20 p.m.
Ted Cruz, who won Oklahoma and his home state of Texas, is calling for some of his Republican rivals to drop out.
Though he did not mention Marco Rubio or John Kasich by name, he made it clear that he felt they should drop out so Republicans could consolidate around him as a viable alternative to Trump.
He asked them “prayerfully consider” the future of their campaigns.
He declared that as long as the Republican field remained divided, Donald Trump would have a path to nomination, which he declared “a total disaster” for his party.
He noted repeatedly that he is only other candidate to win a state: he also captured Iowa last month.
Trump has won Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Arkansas on Super Tuesday.
10:15 p.m.
Donald Trump has won the Republican presidential primary in Arkansas.
Trump has won Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts, and Tennessee. Ted Cruz has captured Texas and Oklahoma.
Speaking earlier Tuesday in Florida, Trump insisted that he has “expanded the Republican party,” claiming that he is responsible for higher voter turnout in the primary states.
9:55 p.m.
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is insisting that he has “expanded the Republican party,” claiming that he is responsible for higher voter turnout in the primary states.
Despite heightened efforts by the GOP establishment to stop him, Trump says he is “a unifier” who soon wanted to put internal Republican squabbles behind him to focus on Hillary Clinton.
He criticized Clinton’s track record said she “isn’t going to straight it out” over the next four years if elected president.
But he also did could not resist taking swipes at Marco Rubio, who he dubbed “the little senator.” He mocked Rubio for not having won a single state.
He is paying tribute to Ted Cruz who captured Texas and Oklahoma.
Trump was victorious in Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts, and Tennessee.
9:50 p.m.
More than 500 Cruz supporters roared when Texas was called for Ted Cruz moments after statewide polls closed.
But their chants of “Ted! Ted! Ted! Ted” were cut short when news feeds shifted a few seconds later to Marco Rubio’s speech.
Some in the crowd booed, and when Rubio thanked Miami and said it was great to be home, a man yelled “Stay there!”
Boos got even louder when Donald Trump began speaking a little while later.
Cruz is holding a party at the “Red Neck Country Club” honkytonk outside his hometown of Houston, where cowboy boots are the preferred footwear.
The first-term senator has won the contests in Texas and Oklahoma but he is lagging behind Trump overall.
9:45 p.m.
Donald Trump is marking his several victories on Super Tuesday and is looking forward to a general election fight against Hillary Clinton.
Trump, speaking at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, was introduced by former rival New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who endorsed him last week.
Trump won Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts, and Tennessee. Ted Cruz has captured Texas and Oklahoma.
Trump, who has a commanding lead in delegates, mocked Marco Rubio for “having a tough night” because he did not win any states.
And he said that Clinton’s call earlier in the night to “make America whole again” – itself a rebuttal to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” rallying cry – was an inferior slogan.
9:42 p.m.
Bernie Sanders isn’t making up much ground in delegates after his win in Oklahoma.
With 38 delegates at stake, Sanders will gain at least 20 delegates in that state. Clinton will get at least 11.
In all, Clinton has won six states including Texas as well as the American Samoa, overtaking Sanders’ victories in smaller states such as Vermont and Oklahoma.
Clinton is now assured of winning at least 334 of the 865 delegates at stake on Super Tuesday. That’s compared to Sanders, who at least 145.
Including superdelegates, Clinton now has at least 882 delegates. Sanders has at least 232. It takes 2,383 delegates to win.
9:40 p.m.
Donald Trump has won at least 139 Super Tuesday delegates, while Ted Cruz has won at least 52.
There are 595 Republican delegates at stake in 11 states.
Marco Rubio has won at least 25 delegates and John Kasich has won at least 13. So far, Ben Carson has picked up two delegates in Virginia.
Overall, Trump leads with 221 delegates. Cruz has 69, Rubio has 41, Kasich has 19 and Carson has seven.
It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president.
9:15 p.m.
As other candidates hold tradition election night watch and victory parties, Donald Trump is once again breaking the mold.
The billionaire businessman will be holding a press conference late Tuesday to thank supporters in what has thus far been a strong night for the GOP front-runner in the Super Tuesday contests.
Reporters have been gathered for hours in a Versailles-worthy room at his sprawling Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, adorned with gold-leaf detailing, columns, and three enormous crystal chandeliers.
They’re also serving cookies.
9:10 p.m.
Bernie Sanders has won the Democratic presidential primary in Oklahoma. He also captured his home state of Vermont.
Sanders also won New Hampshire earlier this campaign.
His opponent, Hillary Clinton, racked up several victories during the string of contests known as Super Tuesday. She also won Georgia, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas.
9:05 p.m.
Marco Rubio, speaking at a Super Tuesday rally at his hometown in Miami, is criticizing the night’s big winner among Republicans: Donald Trump.
Rubio said that over the last five days he has begun “to unmask the true nature” of Trump, whom he called a “con artist.”
He said his recent attacks on Trump have given his campaign momentum and said that Trump did not represent the legacy of the “party of Reagan.”
Trump has won several states on Tuesday: Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts and Tennessee. Ted Cruz has captured Oklahoma and his home state of Texas.
Rubio has yet to win a state, but his upbeat speech was full of promises to continue fighting and vowing to win his home state of Florida later this month.
9:05 p.m.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has won another Republican primary – this time in Oklahoma.
Cruz topped his rivals in Oklahoma, having just won in his home state of Texas.
Republican front-runner Donald Trump has already won the Republican races in Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Massachusetts and Tennessee.
9:02 p.m.
Hillary Clinton, triumphant in several states on during a string of primaries known as Super Tuesday, turned her attention during her victory rally toward her possible Republican opponents.
Clinton decried the GOP for “turning its back” on America’s working and middle class citizens. She criticized what she called the angry, divisive rhetoric from the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, though she did not name him.
Clinton has opened up a commanding lead in delegates thanks in part to her wins Tuesday in Georgia, Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee and Texas.
She also congratulated Bernie Sanders for competing hard in several states. He captured Vermont.
9 p.m.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democrat Hillary Clinton have won the presidential primaries in Texas.
This is the first win for Cruz during the group of Super Tuesday contests and his second win since the leadoff Iowa caucuses.
Clinton earned her latest win in the string of contests known as Super Tuesday. She has also won the Democratic primaries in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, putting her ahead of her rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has won the race in his home state of Vermont.
Texas is home to the largest number of delegates up for grabs in both parties on Super Tuesday.
8:55 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is marking several Super Tuesday victories with a rally in Miami.
Clinton has won Democratic primaries in Georgia, Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama and Tennessee. She is appearing in Florida ahead of the key March 15 primary there.
She declared “What a Super Tuesday!” and said that her campaign would continue “to break barriers” across the nation.
Clinton’s victories continue her momentum after wins in Nevada and South Carolina and she increased her delegate leader over her rival, Bernie Sanders.
In a swipe against Republican front-runner Donald Trump, Clinton said the goal was not to “make America great again” but to “make America whole again.”
Sanders won his home state of Vermont on Tuesday.
8:53 p.m.
Donald Trump has won the Republican presidential primary in Virginia, adding to his Super Tuesday victories in Massachusetts, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.
He is adding to his wins earlier this campaign in Nevada, South Carolina and New Hampshire.
The win was a blow to Marco Rubio, who competed hard in Virginia.
Rubio has yet to win a primary. Ted Cruz has captured Iowa.
8:38 p.m.
It’s a win for Hillary Clinton in American Samoa.
The South Pacific island chain held its caucus Tuesday.
Clinton won 73 percent of 223 votes cast to earn four of the six delegates at stake. Bernie Sanders picked up two delegates.
American Samoa is one of five U.S. territories that cast votes in primaries and caucuses to decide the Democratic presidential nominee, even though those residents aren’t eligible to vote in the November general election.
The island chain has a population of 54,000 and is about a six hour flight from Hawaii.
8:35 p.m.
Donald Trump has jumped to a big lead in the Super Tuesday delegates with victories in Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts and Tennessee.
Trump has won 100 delegates so far. Marco Rubio has won 12 and Ted Cruz has won five.
There are 595 Republican delegates at stake in 11 states.
Overall, Trump leads with 182 delegates. Rubio has 28, Cruz has 22, John Kasich has six and Ben Carson has five.
It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president.
8:32 p.m.
John Kasich is thanking supporters at a Super Tuesday rally In Mississippi.
Kasich, the governor of Ohio, has been trying to build off his surprising second place finish in the New Hampshire primary last month.
He has yet to win any states. His speech Tuesday was full of family remembrances and tributes to his supporters but very little discussion of the night’s results.
Donald Trump has captured Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts, and Tennessee. Some states remained too close to call.
He has resisted calls from some other Republican power brokers to drop out of the race.
8:30 p.m.
Hillary Clinton has won the Democratic presidential primary in Arkansas, where she once served as the state’s first lady.
Clinton earned her latest win in the string of contests known as Super Tuesday. She has also won the Democratic primaries in Georgia, Virginia, Alabama and Tennessee, putting her ahead of her rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has won the race in his home state of Vermont.
Clinton’s husband, Bill Clinton, served as governor of Arkansas before he was elected president in 1992.
8:20 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is adding to her delegate lead over Bernie Sanders after victories in Alabama and Tennessee.
She is now assured of winning at least 175 delegates for the evening. Sanders will receive at least 71.
In all, 865 delegates are at stake in 11 states. Clinton so far has won four of those states, while Sanders prevailed in his home state of Vermont, allowing her to build a delegate lead.
Including superdelegates, Clinton now has a total of at least 723 delegates, according to a count by The Associated Press. Sanders has at least 158. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the nomination.
8 p.m.
Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton have won the presidential primaries in Alabama.
Trump has also finished on top in the Republican primary in Massachusetts.
Trump and Clinton have also won their party primaries in Tennessee.
These latest wins put the two candidates ahead of their rivals in the group of contests known as Super Tuesday.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump and Clinton won the primaries in Georgia. Clinton also won the Democratic primary in Virginia, while her rival, Bernie Sanders, won the contest in his home state of Vermont.
7:40 p.m.
Bernie Sanders, celebrating a victory in the Democratic primary in his home state of Vermont, is pledging to “win many hundreds of delegates” on Super Tuesday.
After thanking the raucous crowd, which periodically chanted his name, he touted how far his campaign had come in the last 10 months.
And he vowed to “take our fight” to the 35 states that would have not yet voted by night’s end.
He pledged to enact judicial reform, fix the nation’s “broken” campaign finance system and he, once again, pledged a “political revolution” and said that he and his supporters would stand up to “billionaire class” that dominates the nation’s political system.
His opponent, Hillary Clinton, has won the contests Tuesday in Georgia and Virginia.
7:39 p.m.
Donald Trump has won the Republican presidential primary in Georgia, taking home his first win in the group of contests known as Super Tuesday.
The Republican front-runner has already won three of the previous four nomination contests, putting him ahead of his rivals, particularly Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who many feel need a strong showing on Tuesday to keep their campaigns afloat.
Trump posted a message on Twitter reading “Thank you Georgia” moments after polls closed.
7:30 p.m.
Bernie Sanders is thanking supporters at a victory rally in his home state of Vermont.
Sanders captured the Democratic primary in Vermont, his first win on Super Tuesday. His opponent, Hillary Clinton, won Georgia and Virginia.
He told the raucous crowd that it meant a lot to him that “the people who know me best” gave him a victory.
He extolled the small-town virtues of Vermont, applauding the state’s town halls which he said could not be corrupted by the billionaires trying to influence the political system.
He said his campaign was about confronting the “ugly truths” in the United States today.
This is Sanders’ second victory. He captured the neighboring state of New Hampshire last month.
7:10 p.m.
Hillary Clinton has sprinted to an early delegate lead on Super Tuesday.
Her victories in Georgia and Virginia are giving her an early advantage over Bernie Sanders, who won big in his home state of Vermont.
At stake in those three states are 213 delegates.
She is assured of at least 108, while Sanders will receive at least 57. Forty-eight remain to be allocated in those three states.
In all, 865 delegates are up for grabs in 11 states and American Samoa on Super Tuesday.
Going into Super Tuesday, Clinton held a 26-delegate advantage based on wins from primaries and caucuses.
7:05 p.m.
The top quality voters in both Virginia and Georgia are looking for in a candidate is experience, according to early results of the exit poll conducted by Edison Research for the Associated Press and Television Networks.
Clinton won both states. She drew support from a large majority of those who cared most about a candidate who can win in November.
Among those who said they cared most about a candidate being honest and trustworthy, most in both states supported Sanders. A majority of those who said their top quality in a candidate was caring about people like them supported Sanders in Virginia, but that group was slightly more likely to support Clinton in Georgia.
Six in 10 Virginia Democratic primary voters said Clinton is honest and trustworthy, and three-quarters said the same of Sanders.
7 p.m.
Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic presidential primaries in Virginia and Georgia, while Bernie Sanders wins in his home state of Vermont.
According to early results of the exit poll conducted by Edison Research for the Associated Press and Television Networks, Clinton led in both Virginia and Georgia among both men and women. Sanders led among voters under 30 and Clinton held a commanding lead among those 45 and over.
In Vermont, Bernie Sanders was supported by overwhelming majorities of both men and women, and huge majorities of voters across all age groups.
Half of Vermont Democrats said they want the next president’s policies to be more liberal than those of President Barack Obama.
6 p.m.
Donald Trump is keeping up his criticism on his closest Republican rivals in the hours before the first Super Tuesday polls close.
Trump, in Kentucky, said Tuesday that March Rubio was “a total lightweight” while Ted Cruz is “a basket case” and “a liar.” However, he held his fire on Ben Carson, calling him a “nice guy” and he didn’t provide any descriptions for John Kasich.
He said his dealing powers would force companies to keep jobs in America and coerce countries to release American prisoners.
The Louisville crowd cheered when Trump spotted a sign in the crowd and asked it to be fetched for him. He held up the sign – which read “Hispanics 4 Trump” – and waved it around, mouthing “thank you” toward the audience.
5:45 p.m.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is backing Hillary Clinton, but he’s not predicting she’ll win Minnesota’s caucuses.
Dayton tells The Associated Press that he thinks Clinton would win decisively if Tuesday’s presidential preference vote was done as part of a primary. But it’s not, and Dayton says caucuses “are such an unknown” because so many things can come up to keep people from attending.
Bernie Sanders is trailing Clinton but has invested a lot of time in Minnesota, where he says he can win if turnout is strong.
Dayton has been a longtime Clinton supporter and has pledged his support as a superdelegate to the national convention no matter how she does Tuesday. He says he expects her to have a good night around the country as Super Tuesday unfolds.
5:30 p.m.
Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin is reminding Hillary Clinton’s campaign about state election laws after former President Bill Clinton greeted voters inside a polling location in Boston.
Clinton arrived at the Holy Name gymnasium, a polling place in the city’s West Roxbury neighborhood where he met with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, one of his wife’s supporters.
Bill Clinton spoke with voters outside the polling location before heading inside with Walsh. At one point, a woman asked for a photo and Clinton said, “as long as we’re not violating any election laws.”
According to state law, no one may solicit a person’s vote within 150 feet of a polling location.
Galvin also said that Bill Clinton created a traffic jam outside a polling location in New Bedford later in the day when he addressed voters on the street. Galvin said the polling location never shut its doors, however.
5:25 p.m.
In eight of nine states where exit polls were conducted Tuesday, Democratic voters were more likely to want a continuation of President Barack Obama’s policies than a switch to more liberal policies.
According to early results of the exit polls conducted for the Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research, majorities of Democratic voters in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia want a continuation of Obama’s policies, along with more than 4 in 10 voters in Arkansas, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Texas.
In each of those states, about a third of Democratic voters or less want a switch to more liberal policies.
In Vermont, about half of Democratic primary voters said they want the next president to change to more liberal policies.
5:20 p.m.
Large majorities of Republican primary voters across nine states have negative feelings toward the federal government.
But whether they’re more dissatisfied or more angry varies by state.
According to early results of exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research, at least 8 in 10 GOP primary voters in each state feel down on the way the federal government is working.
The dissatisfied outnumbered the angry and accounted for a half or more of Republican voters in Virginia, Vermont and Massachusetts.
In Texas, half of GOP primary voters said they were angry.
In Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma and Tennessee, GOP voters were more evenly split between dissatisfaction and anger.
5:20 p.m.
White voters accounted for half of voters or less in three of nine Democratic primaries where exit polls were conducted on Super Tuesday.
According to early results of exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks, nearly half of Democratic primary voters in Alabama and Georgia were black.
In Texas, about 3 in 10 Democratic primary voters were Hispanic and a little under 2 in 10 were black.
In three other states, black voters accounted for about a quarter of Democratic primary voters. They are Virginia, Arkansas and Tennessee.
5:15 p.m.
Large majorities of Republican primary voters in six states going to the polls on Super Tuesday said they support a proposal to temporarily ban all non-citizen Muslims from entering the United States.
Early results of exit polls conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks show two-thirds of GOP primary voters in Texas, Virginia and Georgia, 7 in 10 in Tennessee, and nearly 8 in 10 in Alabama support the proposal championed by GOP front-runner Donald Trump.
But Republican voters were more divided on another major immigration issue, whether to deport immigrants already in the country illegally or allow them to stay.
In just one of the seven states where the question was asked, Alabama, did a majority of Republicans support deportation. In two states, Virginia and Georgia, those who preferred legal status outnumbered those supporting deportation.
5:00 p.m.
Marco Rubio is ceremonially launching his campaign for the must-win primary in Florida, where Donald Trump sits comfortably ahead.
The Florida senator is telling reporters in Minnesota that he is looking ahead to the March 15 contest in his home state because he will have “a lot of delegates” after Super Tuesday balloting in 11 states holding Republican contests, even if he doesn’t win any states. And he’s predicting that the competition will become so fierce that it will become clear that Trump “has no chance” of ever winning enough delegates to capture the GOP presidential nomination.
Rubio also is setting high expectations for Ted Cruz’s Super Tuesday finish. Cruz is doing well but not likely to win all 155 delegates offered by the contest in his home state of Texas.
Rubio says, “Tonight was supposed to be Ted Cruz’s big night.”
4:45 p.m.
Donald Trump is trying to woo Kentucky voters at a rally in Louisville by criticizing President Barack Obama as having “decimated” the coal industry. Trump said if he becomes president, coal will “make a very big comeback.”
His rally on Tuesday was interrupted several times by protesters. The billionaire businessman shouted at them from the stage, “out, out, out.” He told the roaring crowd that the protesters wouldn’t be there if the nation weren’t so politically correct.
Trump, introduced by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, continued to hurl insults at his competitors. He took aim at Demoncratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and said she doesn’t have the strength or stamina to be president.
4:38 p.m.
A judge has dismissed a claim that Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz isn’t eligible for the Illinois ballot because he was born in Canada.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Maureen Ward Kirby tossed the case on a technicality Tuesday.
Kirby says the suburban Chicago attorney who filed the complaint, Lawrence Joyce, failed to give a copy of it to Cruz or state electoral board members, as required by Illinois law. Instead, Joyce served only lawyers representing Cruz and the board.
Joyce says the Texas senator can’t be president because he wasn’t born in the U.S. Cruz and some legal experts say he’s eligible because his mother was a U.S. citizen when he was born.
Joyce backs Ben Carson but says he acted on his own.
Illinois’ primary is March 15.
2:55 p.m.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is blasting Donald Trump’s “seeming ambivalence about David Duke and the KKK,” joining House Speaker Paul Ryan’s earlier call for the GOP presidential candidates to reject racism.
The two highest-ranking leaders of Congress spoke as voters in 11 states holding GOP contests went to the polls for the Super Tuesday contests. They never said Trump’s name, but clearly were referring to a weekend interview on CNN in which Trump refused to denounce the former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard or racist groups. Trump had disavowed them and did so again after facing criticism for wobbling. But the leaders of his party on Tuesday suggested that wasn’t enough.
Ryan, the nation’s highest-ranking Republican government official, earlier Tuesday said anyone who wants to be the Republican presidential nominee must reject any racist group or individual.
McConnell went next, saying, “Senate Republicans condemn David Duke, the KKK, and his racism.”
Republicans are defending their congressional majorities in the November elections.
2:35 p.m.
A midlevel New York court has refused to throw out a fraud lawsuit against Donald Trump over his former school for real estate investors.
The Appellate Division on Tuesday unanimously rejected Trump’s request to dismiss the 2013 suit.
The four justices also denied New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s request for an immediate judgment, saying there are material issues of fact.
Schneiderman alleges Trump University was unlicensed and promised lessons with real estate experts hand-picked by Trump, only one of whom had ever met him.
He says the school used “bait-and-switch” tactics. Its name was changed to the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative before it closed in 2010.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
Trump’s presidential opponents attacked him over the litigation during Thursday’s GOP debate. The ruling comes as Super Tuesday primary voters head to the polls.
2:28 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is making her way through the Midtown Global market in downtown Minneapolis as Super Tuesday voters headed toward the polls.
The Democratic presidential front runner was confronted by a young woman who questioned her record on working with the Somali community and 1996 comments Clinton made calling young people who commit crimes “super predators.”
At the time, the term was typically applied to young black men living in urban areas. Clinton made the remark while promoting her husband’s 1994 crime bill – now repudiated by many, including the Clintons – during his re-election race. Aides confirmed the encounter, pointing out that Clinton met with Somali-Americans during a previous visit to the state and has support from many in the black community.
“Why don’t you go run for something then,” Clinton responded, after the woman kept questioning her record on racial issues.
Clinton is joined by Governor Mark Dayton and Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges. She flew nearly 1,300 miles from campaign events in Virginia on Monday to build support in the state during the final hours before tonight’s caucuses and polls close in 12 other Super Tuesday contests.
2:20 p.m.
Marco Rubio is reminding an audience in Minnesota about what can happen when voters angry with the political establishment elect an outspoken celebrity.
In a ballroom in a northern Minneapolis suburb, Rubio asks, “How did that work out for Jesse Ventura?”
Rubio is referring to a flamboyant former professional wrestler elected governor of Minnesota for one term from 1999 to 2003.
Minnesota holds caucuses for the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday evening. Rubio is trying to catch Trump who leads in many of the 11 Super Tuesday states, and has taken to painting Trump as an unprincipled celebrity charlatan.
Rubio says: “Jesse Ventura was an embarrassment. Let me rephrase that. Jesse Ventura is an embarrassment.”
Rubio is in Minnesota for the quick rally after blitzing over the past four days Southern states holding Super Tuesday primaries today.
He was in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas and Oklahoma Monday alone, making five stops and nearly losing his voice.
Rubio was planning to fly from Minnesota to his home in Miami Tuesday to await the results of voting in the 11 states holding primaries.
1:47 p.m.
Donald Trump is criticizing Democratic rival Hillary Clinton during a campaign rally in Ohio.
He’s telling a crowd of 4,000 in a hangar at Port Columbus International Airport that Clinton “Clinton does not have the strength of the stamina to be president.”
Trump also repeated his attacks against GOP rivals Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz and vowed to win Ohio’s primary in two weeks over GOP rival John Kasich, the state’s governor.
Trump got his largest response when he spoke about building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, protecting gun rights and “saying Merry Christmas again.”
1:35 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says Republicans aren’t even talking about issues in their protracted race for the GOP presidential nomination.
She tells reporters in Minneapolis that the GOP candidates are “now running their campaigns based on insults. It’s turned into a kind of one-upmanship on insulting.”
The Democratic presidential front runner says she doesn’t think it’s appropriate.
She also says she is “disappointed” that Donald Trump did not disavow David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan in a weekend interview.
Clinton added that Trump “obviously” has done very well and “could be on the path” to the GOP nomination.
She spoke as voters in 11 states holding GOP contests went to the polls on Super Tuesday.
Trump has disavowed Duke, but did not do so when asked about the former KKK grand wizard in a CNN interview on Sunday. He subsequently did disavow Duke.
1:09 p.m.
Ted Cruz says any candidate who can’t win his home state “has real problems” winning the GOP presidential nomination. But he’s not saying he’ll secure all 155 GOP presidential delegates in Texas on Tuesday.
He says, “For any candidate that wakes up tomorrow who has not won any states” it could be “time to start coming together and unifying” against Donald Trump.
Winning every Texas delegate means capturing a majority of the votes statewide and in all 36 congressional districts. Cruz has said that “polling suggests we aren’t anywhere close to that threshold.”
Still he said insisted Tuesday, “I hope and believe today is a good day.”
12:32 p.m.
The New Hampshire newspaper that gave Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey one of his biggest boosts ahead of the state’s primary now says it made a grave mistake.
New Hampshire Union Leader Publisher Joseph McQuaid says in an editorial, “Boy, were we wrong.”
The editorial published online Monday night comes after Christie, who ended his bid after a disappointing finish in the state, threw his support behind Donald Trump, shocking many in the political word.
McQuaid says the paper offered its Christie endorsement “despite his baggage,” because of his experience as a Republican governor in a Democratic state and thinking he had the best chance of taking on Trump.
He adds, “Rather than standing up to the bully, Christie bent his knee. In doing so, he rejected the very principles of his campaign that attracted our support.”
12:05 p.m.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says rival Marco Rubio should drop out of the race if he doesn’t win a single Super Tuesday state on Tuesday night.
Trump says on Fox News, “He has to get out. He hasn’t won anything.”
The GOP presidential frontrunner also is hitting Rubio for his sudden turn to negative campaigning.
While Trump is looking to rack up a long list of wins on Tuesday, Rubio’s goal is more modest.
He’s aiming to stay competitive in the delegate count to bide time ahead of the vote in Florida on March 15, which he hopes to win.
10:23 a.m.
House Speaker Paul Ryan says anyone who wants to be the Republican presidential nominee must reject any racist group or individual.
Ryan made the tacit swipe at GOP front runner Donald Trump as voters in 11 states headed to the polls on Super Tuesday. Ryan told reporters Tuesday that the GOP is the party of President Abraham Lincoln and “this party does not prey on people’s prejudices.”
He bemoaned the current discourse in the GOP and said it was time to get back to focusing on how Republicans would solve the nation’s problems.
Ryan was the GOP vice presidential nominee in 2012. He said he has tried to avoid commenting on the presidential race but felt a need to speak up.
7:30 a.m.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has voted in his hometown of Burlington, Vermont as Super Tuesday kicks off across 11 states.
Sanders tells reporters that if voter turnout is high “we are going to do well. If not, we’re probably going to be struggling.”
Sanders says “this is a campaign that is going to the Philadelphia convention in July.”
He jokes that “Bernie Sanders here in Vermont got at least one vote. I was working on my wife,” Jane. He says, “We’re feeling pretty good.”
7:10 a.m.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is showing weariness with repeated questions about when – and whether – he has disavowed any connection with David Duke, a onetime Ku Klux Klan leader.
Interviewed by phone on ABC’s “Good Morning America” as voters went to the polls early Tuesday, Trump said once again that he had on several occasions disavowed Duke. He told the network at one point that “there’s nobody who’s done so much for equality as I have.”
Trump also said he’s bringing new people – even Democrats – into the Republican Party. He said, “We’re getting people into the party that they’ve never had before” and said he was relishing the thought of taking on Democrat Hillary Clinton in the general election.
Trump said, “I can tell you the one person Hillary Clinton doesn’t want to run against is me.”