Donald Trump added another big state to his victory column Tuesday by handily beating Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] and Gov. John Kasich in the Illinois Republican primary.
Trump’s win was built on a very strong performance across the whole state, as he won both Cook County (which contains Chicago) along with most of the state’s rural counties. Kasich and Cruz, meanwhile, were in a close race for second in the state, with Kasich doing well in the Chicago area while Cruz did better downstate. Sen. [crscore]Marco Rubio[/crscore], who dropped out of the Republican race Tuesday night, finished a distant fourth.
Illinois has a relatively unusual means of allocating its 69 delegates. 15 of its delegates will be awarded winner-take-all to the overall primary winner, but its remaining 54 delegates will be chosen individually by voters in each of its 18 congressional districts. Those delegate candidates must list which candidate they intend to support at the national convention, but delegates may also choose to be uncommitted.
This unusual “loophole primary” means the final delegate count in Illinois could end up being a sweep for Trump, or it could provide a sizable number of delegates to Cruz or even another candidate like Kasich.
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