National

Election 2016: Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders win in Utah

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. presidential race (all times Eastern Daylight Time):

3:16 a.m.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s big win in Utah means he will get all 40 of the state’s delegates to the Republican National Convention.

Cruz has a very limited path to clinch the nomination before the party’s convention this summer.

But if he can start winning more contests, he can stop front-runner Donald Trump from doing so.

Trump won the most delegates on Tuesday, picking up all 58 in Arizona’s Republican primary. Republicans also caucused Tuesday in American Samoa, where Trump and Cruz each picked up a delegate.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich was shut out for the night, leaving him with fewer delegates than Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who quit the race last week.

The AP delegate count:

  • Trump: 739.
  • Cruz: 465
  • Kasich: 143.
  • Needed to win the nomination: 1,237.

3:06 a.m.

Bernie Sanders says in a statement after his wins in the Idaho and Utah Democratic presidential caucuses that “tremendous voter turnouts” gave his campaign two victories “with extremely large margins.”

The Vermont senator says the support in Tuesday’s races “give me confidence that we will continue to win major victories in the coming contests.”

Sanders pointed to the participation of young people and working-class people, saying it was “exactly what the political revolution is all about.”

Hillary Clinton won Arizona’s primary against Sanders earlier on Tuesday, and she’ll end the night still leading Sanders in the race for the Democratic Party’s nomination by more than 300 pledged delegates.

2:32 a.m.

Ted Cruz has won Utah’s Republican presidential caucus, and is on pace to take all of the state’s delegates by finishing with more than 50 percent of the vote.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich was running second, with GOP front-runner Donald Trump in third.

Cruz’s win follows endorsements in the last week from Utah. Gov. Gary Herbert and Mitt Romney, the GOP’s last presidential nominee who holds clout among the state’s predominantly Mormon voters.

Romney and Herbert backed the Texas senator in an effort to derail Trump’s path to victory.

2:26 a.m.

Bernie Sanders has won two out of three states holding presidential contests on Tuesday after taking Idaho, but he isn’t cutting much into Hillary Clinton’s big delegate lead.

With 23 delegates at stake in Idaho, Sanders stands to gain at least 17. Clinton will receive at least 5.

Still, his gains aren’t going very far due to a loss in Arizona — the biggest delegate prize of the night.

For the evening, Sanders stands to win at least 55 delegates to Clinton’s 51. About two dozen delegates remain to be allocated pending final vote totals.

Clinton now has a total delegate lead of 1,214 to Sanders’ 899 to date, based on primaries and caucuses.

When including superdelegates, Clinton has at least 1,681 to Sanders’ 925. It takes 2,383 to win.

1:44 a.m.

Bernie Sanders will net some delegates after a win in Utah’s Democratic caucuses, but not enough so far to make up for his loss earlier in the night to front-runner Hillary Clinton in Arizona.

With 33 delegates at stake in Utah, Sanders will pick up at least 18. Clinton will receive at least 5.

For the evening, Clinton stands to win at least 45 delegates to at least 34 for Sanders.

To date, Clinton has a delegate lead of 1,208 to Sanders’ 878, based on primaries and caucuses.

When including superdelegates, Clinton has at least 1,675 delegates. That’s 70 percent of the delegates needed to win her party’s nomination. Sanders has at least 904.

Also voting this evening were Democrats in Idaho, where 23 delegates are at stake.

12:36 a.m.

The sheriff for metro Phoenix says Donald Trump’s victory in Arizona should demonstrate to the Republican establishment that it should back off its opposition to the GOP front-runner.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (ARE-pie-oh) tells The Associated Press that Trump’s victory came as a result of his views on illegal immigration, experience in real estate development and forceful personality that leads supporters to believe he can carry out his promises.

The lawman says the Republican Party should heed the wishes of Trump’s supporters.

Trump held a rally Saturday in Arpaio’s hometown.

The six-term sheriff is known for immigration crackdowns that made him popular among voters, but which were eventually barred by the courts. Trump often invokes Arpaio’s name when speaking about immigration.

12:31 a.m.

The Utah presidential caucuses are struggling with booming turnout as lines of voters encircled a city block in Salt Lake City and some caucus sites ran out of ballots.

Organizers sent caucus-goers to local stores to buy reams of paper and to photocopy ballots amid huge turnout.

They were also running out of time. The parties rented schools and other locations on the expectation that they would be finished by 9 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time.

But the huge turnout pushed them past their agreements, and the Utah Democratic Party had to take ballots to its headquarters to do the tally.

In some locations, voters packed into hot classrooms, with adults squeezed into student desks as others sat on the floor nearby or stood along the walls.

12:21 a.m.

Hillary Clinton is welcoming her victory in Arizona’s presidential primary, pointing to the attacks in Belgium as a sign of “how high the stakes are” in the 2016 election.

Clinton says at a rally in Seattle that the nation needs a commander in chief who is “strong, smart and above all steady” in taking on these types of threats.

In a nod to Republican front-runner Donald Trump, the former secretary of state says the last thing the U.S. needs “are leaders who incite more fear.”

She says “in the face of terror, America doesn’t panic, we don’t build walls or turn our backs on our allies.”

Clinton says what Trump and his Republican rival Ted Cruz are suggesting is “not only wrong, it’s dangerous.” She says it is “time for America to lead, not cower.”

11:50 p.m.

Bernie Sanders is brushing off a loss in Arizona, telling thousands of supporters in California that his campaign has won 10 primaries and caucuses and “unless I am mistaken we are going to win a couple more tonight.”

Sanders was hoping for victories in caucuses in Idaho and Utah on Tuesday night. Speaking at a rally in San Diego, the Vermont senator says there are “record-breaking turnouts” in the three states.

Sanders trails Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, but he says his campaign is generating energy and enthusiasm.

He was introduced by actress Rosario Dawson at the San Diego Convention Center. She says, “If you want to beat Trump, vote Bernie.”

11:37 p.m.

Donald Trump is stretching his lead in the race for convention delegates by winning the Arizona primary.

Trump won all 58 delegates in Arizona, giving him a little less than half the delegates allocated so far. That’s still short of the majority needed to clinch the nomination before the party’s national convention this summer.

However, Trump has a path to the nomination if he continues to win states that award all or most of their delegates to the winner.

Republicans were also going to the polls Tuesday in Utah, with 40 delegates at stake. A candidate could win all 40 if he gets more than 50 percent of the vote. Otherwise, delegates are awarded in proportion to the statewide vote.

The AP delegate count:

Trump: 739.

Ted Cruz: 425

John Kasich: 143.

Needed to win the nomination: 1,237.

11:25 p.m.

First there was “low energy” Jeb Bush. Then came “Little Marco” Rubio and “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz.

Now, GOP front-runner Donald Trump has revealed a potential nickname for Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump twice referred to Clinton as “Incompetent Hillary” when talking about her tenure as secretary of state.

He says, “Incompetent Hillary doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She doesn’t have a clue.”

Trump has talked about the importance of effectively branding his rivals on the trail.

He dug in on Twitter, writing: “Incompetent Hillary, despite the horrible attack in Brussels today, wants borders to be weak and open – and let the Muslims flow in. No way!”

11:18 p.m.

Hillary Clinton has padded her delegate lead after a win in the Arizona Democratic presidential primary.

With 75 delegates at stake, Arizona is the biggest prize of the night in the Democratic race.

Clinton stands to gain more than half of those delegates — at least 40, compared to at least 16 for rival Bernie Sanders.

That means she will add to her delegate lead of more than 300. She now has 1,203 to Sanders’ 860.

When including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate, Clinton’s overall lead is even wider — 1,670 to Sanders’ 886. It takes 2,383 to win.

Also voting this evening are Idaho and Utah, with a combined 56 delegates at stake.

11:16 p.m.

Donald Trump has rolled to a victory in the Arizona Republican primary, capitalizing on his anti-immigration stance — a position that’s long been popular with GOP voters in the state.

With the win, Trump takes all of the state’s 58 delegates to the Republican National Convention.

The billionaire businessman made three trips to Arizona and had the support of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Gov. Jan Brewer — a pair of politicians best known for leading immigration crackdowns.

Trump defeated Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who toured the U.S.-Mexico border over the weekend in a last-minute push for votes.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich did not campaign in Arizona.

10:10 p.m.

Donald Trump apparently has no regrets about making a threat against rival Ted Cruz.

The GOP front-runner on Tuesday night tweeted that the Texas senator needed to “be careful” or he would “spill the beans on your wife.”

Trump quickly deleted the tweet, but then reposted an edited version a few minutes later.

The change? This time, he called Cruz by the dismissive nickname he uses often: “Lyin’ Ted.”

Trump appears to be upset about an ad in Utah that uses a photo of his wife, Melania, from a photo shoot that ran in GQ magazine more than a decade ago.

The ad wasn’t placed by Cruz’s campaign, but rather an outside group that’s opposed to Trump’s candidacy.

Cruz shot back with a tweet of his own, saying in part, “Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you’re more of a coward than I thought.”

Trump’s campaign didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment about the billionaire businessman’s tweet.

9:40 p.m.

Utah is seeing a frenzy of activity surrounding its presidential caucuses as voters are experiencing long lines, and the Democratic Party’s website crashed due to high traffic.

Lines have been several blocks long at some Republican caucus sites. And the Democratic site crashed about an hour before the start of the party’s caucuses.

The site includes information such as the addresses for the 90 physical Democratic caucus locations in the state, as well as guidance on what documents to bring and who is eligible to vote. The party later fixed the problem.

Utah’s director of elections Mark Thomas says about 20,000 people started registering to vote online in recent days, with about half of those doing so Tuesday.

Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney isn’t among those waiting in line to take part. He is out of town and voted absentee.

9:04 p.m.

The Arizona presidential primary is drawing long lines as people wait two hours in some cases to cast a ballot.

Police have been called to help with traffic control in some places, while one polling place ran out of ballots. Some voters wore wide-brimmed hats or carried umbrellas for shade. Others sat in lawn chairs they brought from home.

Dozens of people were lined up before voting started at 6 a.m. at a central Phoenix polling place, and hundreds were in line there by mid-afternoon.

The lines are the result of Maricopa County — home to metro Phoenix — cutting back the number of polling sites to save money. The county had 200 polling places in the 2012 presidential primary and just 60 this year. It had 700 for the last general election.

The county also mistakenly thought that the popularity of mail-in ballots and independents who can’t vote in primaries would require fewer polling places.

7:25 p.m.

Hillary Clinton met with Native American tribal leaders in Washington state Tuesday, promising to be a “good partner.”

Clinton visited Chief Leschi Schools in Puyallup, where she appeared before more than 40 people. The school has about 1,000 students from preschool to 12th grade.

After a musical performance, tribe chairman Bill Sterud introduced Clinton, recalling when tribe members marched in an inaugural parade for President Bill Clinton. He said the tribe has a number of needs, including help with cleaning up Puget Sound.

Clinton thanked the group for hosting her and said that if elected, she would expect a delegation at her inauguration.

“I came to listen,” she said. “To learn more from each of you.”

__

6:20 p.m.

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz criticized President Barack Obama for remaining in Cuba instead of responding to security concerns threat in Belgium.

Cruz, at a New York City event Tuesday, said that Obama “is happily at a baseball game, yukking it up with the Castro communist dictators” instead of returning to Washington or traveling to Brussels in solidarity.

The Texas Senator said that the United States needed a commander-in-chief who will “unleash the full force and fury of the United States military” against the Islamic State and accused of Obama of a policy of “appeasement” with terrorists.

Cruz on Tuesday spent the first of two days in New York City, doing a round of interviews and connecting with influential Republican donors ahead of the state’s primary next month

6:15 p.m.

Ted Cruz is praising the New York City’s former police surveillance program of Muslim neighborhoods to thwart potential terror attacks.

Cruz said Tuesday the program, instituted under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, worked “cooperatively with the Muslim community to prevent radicalization and he blasted current Mayor Bill de Blasio for cancelling it in 2014 “in a pique of political correctness.”

He said the program could be a model nationwide.

After the September 11th attacks, the New York Police Department used its intelligence division to detect terror threats by cultivating informants and conducting surveillance in Muslim communities. The practice became the subject of a series of articles by The Associated Press revealing that the intelligence division had infiltrated dozens of mosques and Muslim student groups and investigated hundreds.

It was disbanded amid complaints of religious and racial profiling.

6:05 p.m.

Ted Cruz, who criticized “New York values” earlier this campaign, journeyed to a Manhattan townhouse Tuesday to meet with local Republicans ahead of the state’s primary next month.

Cruz, looking to upset Donald Trump on the businessman’s home turf, said that New York “for the first time in a long time is going to have a real voice” in selecting the Republican nominee.

The Texas senator said that he believes his campaign “can compete very effectively” with Trump, who makes his home in a Manhattan high rise that bears his name. Cruz spoke just two miles away at the tony Metropolitan Republican Club on the Upper East Side.

He ripped into Trump, saying that if the celebrity businessman were to be the Republican nominee, it would hand the White House to Hillary Clinton.

5:10 p.m.

As more states head to the polls, Hillary Clinton is breaking down her lead by the numbers.

At a union hall in Everett, Washington Tuesday, Clinton noted that she respects the “passion of my opponent’s supporters” But she stressed that she has “gotten more votes than anybody else, including Donald Trump. I have gotten 2.6 million more votes than Bernie Sanders.”

Clinton continued that “I have a bigger lead in pledged delegates —the ones you win from people voting— than Barack Obama had at this time in 2008. We are on the path to the nomination and I want Washington to be part of how we get there.”

5:00 p.m.

Hillary Clinton says the attacks in Brussels are a reminder of “how important it is to have a steady, smart, strong approach to keeping us safe.”

At a union hall in Everett, Washington Tuesday, Clinton stressed her plans to take on the Islamic State group. She said she would use American air power to deprive them of territory and seek to “stop the flow of foreign fighters and foreign money and arms.”

Clinton also said terrorism needs to be defeated online because “that is where they radicalize. That is where they propagandize.”

Clinton said the United States must offer help to Belgium and European countries and work with allies to defeat the Islamic State.

Pledging to bring the world together, Clinton made a reference to Republican front-runner Donald Trump, saying: “Some of my opponents want to build walls and shut the world off. Well you tell me, how high does the wall have to be to keep the internet out?”

3:00 p.m.

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz says it is time for law enforcement to “patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.”

The conservative Texas lawmaker made the comment in a statement his campaign released following Tuesday’s bombings in Brussels, Belgium, that killed at least 31 people and wounded dozens more. The statement was titled, “We Can No Longer Surrender to the Enemy Through Political Correctness.”

Islamic State extremist group claimed credit for the Brussels attacks.

Cruz’s statement provided no details about how law enforcement would secure Muslim neighborhoods.

Cruz said the U.S. must help its European allies and forbid refugees from countries with significant numbers of al-Qaida or IS extremists. He said it must secure the border with Mexico and “utterly destroy ISIS,” another acronym for the group.

1:50 p.m.

Bernie Sanders tells reporters in Arizona that the attacks in Brussels, Belgium, show the need for “significantly improved surveillance” and the sharing of intelligence with countries around the world.

The Democratic presidential candidate is condemning the attacks in Brussels. He says he strongly disagrees with calls by some Republicans for stepped up domestic surveillance of Muslims in the United States.

He said in Flagstaff, Arizona Tuesday: “That would be unconstitutional – it would be wrong.”

Sanders was campaigning later in the day in San Diego, California. He’s competing with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in contests on Tuesday in Idaho, Utah and Arizona.

1:45 p.m.

Hillary Clinton says “defeating the terrorist threat” alongside European allies is the country’s “highest priority going forward.”

Speaking to CNN Tuesday following the deadly attacks on Brussel’s metro system and airport, Clinton said she won’t respond to accusations by GOP front-runner Donald Trump that she lacks “stamina.”

“I don’t want to respond to his constant stream of insults because I find it absurd,” she said in the interview.

1:30 p.m.

John Kasich is criticizing President Barack Obama for not cutting his Cuba trip short in light of the attacks in Brussels, but the Ohio governor is offering far more muted rhetoric on the attacks than his GOP competitors, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.

Speaking to reporters in Minneapolis Tuesday, Kasich says Obama should return to the United States to call European heads of state and assemble intelligence experts at home. He’s suggesting the president is being “too lax” in facing the growing threat of what he calls radical Islamic terrorism.

Despite Kasich’s use of that term, he’s criticizing his opponents for suggesting all Muslims should be targeted. Earlier Tuesday, Cruz said Muslim neighborhoods should be patrolled, and Trump has reiterated his calls to ban Muslims from entering the country.

Kasich says he doesn’t believe all Muslims in Minnesota or elsewhere are “somehow intent on trying to destroy our families.”

He adds, “the last thing we need is more polarization . . . this is a time when you have to keep your cool.”

1:10 p.m.

Republican Rep. Lou Barletta, who has said GOP courting of Hispanics is a waste of time, is backing Donald Trump for president.

In a statement Tuesday, Barletta said the New York businessman has proven that he is the leader the country needs to change Washington. The Pennsylvania lawmaker said Trump has the ability to attract frustrated Democrats and independents and has the best chance to beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in November.

Barletta pointed out that as mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, he introduced the first law to crack down on illegal immigration.

The congressman also complained about members of the GOP who have spent time trying to stop Trump. Barletta said: “We need to listen to the voters instead of elitists trying to tell us right from wrong.”

Barletta joins about a half dozen lawmakers who are backing Trump.

11:40 a.m.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says the attack in Brussels, Belgium, is a “brutal reminder that the international community must come together to destroy” the Islamic State group.

The Vermont senator says “this type of barbarism cannot be allowed to continue.”

Sanders is offering his condolences to the families who lost loved ones in what he calls “another cowardly attempt to terrorize innocent civilians.”

He says the U.S. will stand with its European allies.

10:38 a.m.

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz says he would use the “full force and fury” of the U.S. military to defeat the Islamic State group.

“This is war,” Cruz told journalists at a press conference on Capitol Hill Tuesday. “Their target is each and every one of us.”

Cruz condemned rival and front-runner Donald Trump that the United States saying Trump’s comments suggest that America should abandon its allies.

The three Republican candidates addressed the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference Monday, presenting their views on foreign policy, America’s alliance with Israel and the fight against the Islamic State group.

10:35 p.m.

Republican presidential hopeful John Kasich says he is “sickened by the pictures of the carnage” from Brussels, following attacks on the city’s metro system and airport.

The Ohio governor said in a statement Tuesday that the global community must “redouble” efforts to “identify, root out and destroy the perpetrators of such acts of evil.”

10:35 a.m.

Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz says that “radical Islam is at war with us,” following the attacks on the Brussels metro and airport.

The Texas senator took to Twitter Tuesday to attack President Barack Obama’s approach to tackling extremism, writing that “for over seven years, we have had a president who refuses to acknowledge this reality.”

Cruz declared in his final tweet that such an approach “ends on January 20, 2017, when I am sworn in as president.”

10:32 a.m.

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump says the city of Brussels is “a total disaster” and said he’s warned about such attacks taking place.

Speaking to Fox News Tuesday, as developments were still unfolding in Belgium, Trump said “Brussels was a beautiful city, a beautiful place with zero crime, and now it’s a disaster city.”

Trump has called for a temporary ban on Muslims coming to the United States following terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California. He previously called Brussels a “hellhole.”

10:30 a.m.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says the United States must “stand in solidarity” with European allies after the deadly bombing attacks in Brussels.

Belgian officials say 31 people were killed Tuesday and 187 wounded in two explosions at the Belgium airport and one at a city subway station.

The former secretary of state told NBC News that the U.S. must intensify efforts to prevent terrorism in conjunction with its allies. “We’ve got to be absolutely strong and smart and steady in how we respond,” she says.

But Clinton also said that it is unrealistic to say that the United States can completely shut its borders.

Clinton is campaigning in Washington state ahead of the primaries there tonight.

10:15 a.m.

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz have each added a delegate at the GOP caucus in American Samoa.

Republicans in the U.S. territory elected six delegates at their caucus on Tuesday. They have a total nine delegates, including the territory’s three Republican National Committee members.

The delegates are “unbound,” meaning they are free to support the candidate of their choice. Party chairman Abe Utu Malae says in an email that two of the delegates have endorsed candidates — one for Trump and one for Cruz.

Republicans are also voting Tuesday in Arizona and Utah, with a total of 98 delegates at stake. Arizona has 58 delegates and Utah has 40.

The AP delegate count has Trump with 681, Cruz with 425 and Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 143.

It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president.

3:27 a.m.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton seek to pad their delegate lead over their underdog rivals as the 2016 race for the White House moves West on Tuesday. They are both eager to move past the divisive primary season.

Arizona and Utah feature contests for both parties, while Idaho Democrats also hold presidential caucuses. Republican Trump and Democrat Clinton hope to strengthen their delegate leads in a race that will decide the nominations.

Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republicans Ted Cruz and John Kasich are struggling to reverse the sense of inevitability taking hold around both party front-runners.

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