Donald Trump won the Nevada GOP caucus with about 45 percent of the votes, according to the Associated Press [1]. Trump led in the polls leading up to the caucus, so the result is hardly a surprise. What is surprising, however, is that exit polls show he won 44 percent of the Latino vote, an unexpected number given his offensive comments about the group [2].
#Trump [3] wins with Latino voters in #NVcaucus [4]:
- @realDonaldTrump [5] 44%
- @marcorubio [6] 29%
- @tedcruz [7] 18% pic.twitter.com/FGDibjwLFo [8]— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) February 24, 2016 [9]
He won big across most other demographics — including evangelicals and different levels of education — with the exception of young voters. "We won the poorly educated. I love the poorly educated!" he said in his victory speech.
"We're winning, winning, winning the country and soon the country is going to start winning, winning, winning," he added, saying that he's going to bring so much money to the US. Trump also pointed to poll numbers in states like Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Florida that show him winning as a sign that he will continue to dominate the GOP election.
THANK YOU NEVADA! WE WILL MAKE AMERICA SAFE & GREAT AGAIN! https://t.co/ClAnLIg0AD [10] pic.twitter.com/zVvyVCIaD4 [11]
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2016 [12]
Marco Rubio is leading the second place position with about 24 percent of the vote, followed by Ted Cruz with almost 21 percent. The other remaining candidates — John Kasich and Ben Carson — are in the single digit numbers.
This is the fourth time this year that states have voted on a GOP candidate — Trump also won the New Hampshire primary [13] earlier this month, taking home 35 percent of the vote, as well as the South Carolina primary [14] over the weekend, with 34 percent of the vote. The only time he lost was when Ted Cruz beat him in the Iowa caucus [15]. (Not sure what the difference is between a primary and a caucus? We got you covered. [16])
Many wonder how Donald Trump can be leading the GOP candidates despite his bigoted comments and lack of a concrete platform. To grasp his popularity, it's important to understand how he capitlizes on peoples' fears and frustrations with the government establishment [17]. Indeed, many caucus goers in Nevada said they were angry and seeking a goverment outsider, according to the Los Angeles Times [18].
How did I end up in a country that values a person like Donald Trump?
— James Moore (@moorethink) February 24, 2016 [19]
Nevada also hosted its Democratic caucus on Saturday — Hillary Clinton won that race [20], narrowly defeating Bernie Sanders. The next GOP voting event happens March 1 on Super Tuesday, when several states will cast their votes [21]. You can watch the candidates debate in Houston Thursday night on CNN and Telemundo.