Businessman Donald Trump won the Republican presidential primary in Virginia Tuesday, beating out Sen. [crscore]Marco Rubio[/crscore] to secure another crucial state as he races towards the nomination.
Trump edged out Rubio by about three points, winning 34.7 percent of the vote to Rubio’s 31.9 percent. He snagged 17 delegates, while Rubio won 16 delegates.
Trump and Rubio were followed by Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] in what was an expected but important result in a pivotal swing state. Snagging the diverse Virginia electorate is a boon to Trump’s case that he can win in the general and bring new voters into the Republican fold.
Rubio fared better than expected, after focusing heavily on the state. Trump led by double-digits in Virginia primary polls leading up to the race, with a Real Clear Politics polling average that put him 14.5 points ahead of his closest rivals.
Rubio and his supporters dropped more than five hundred thousand dollars worth of ads, and he took a new more aggressive line of attack against Trump in rallies leading up to the primary. He might have won the state outright had Ohio Gov. John Kasich not taken a significant portion of the primary vote.
Kasich followed Cruz, ahead of Ben Carson.
Turnout was expected to be high in Virginia, as in many of the states holding primaries and caucuses this Super Tuesday. Virginia law allows any registered voter to participate in the GOP primary, and the 49 delegates up for grabs are awarded proportionally, rather than winner-takes-all.
Polls opened at 6 a.m. and closed at 7 p.m.
Here are the other states holding primaries on Super Tuesday: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Wyoming.
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