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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, Saturday, March 5, 2016, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) ORG XMIT: OTKBA(Photo: Brynn Anderson, AP)
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won victories in the Kansas and Maine<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Republican caucuses Saturday, as GOP leader Donald Trump took the <span style="color: Red;">*</span>Louisiana primary, according to Associated Press projections.
Results in Kentucky were incomplete.
Kansas and Maine were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Cruz's fifth and sixth wins of the Republican primary season, easily fending off Trump in both states. Cruz won Maine<span style="color: Red;">*</span>despite Gov. Paul LePage's endorsement of Trump.
Fla. Sen. Marco Rubio, who waged a bitter war of words with Trump in the past two weeks, did not finish higher than third in any state. He placed fourth in Maine, behind Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson dropped out of the race Friday.
"God bless Kansas; God bless Maine,'' Cruz told supporters in Idaho, as he awaited final results from Maine. "And the scream you hear<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the howl you hear from<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Washington, D.C.—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is utter terror for what we the people are doing together. What we’re seeing is conservatives coming together.''
Cruz, vying to solidify his candidacy as the alternative to Trump, <span style="color: Red;">*</span>said he arrived in Idaho with "hope and encouragement.''
"I believe this election will center on three issues: jobs, freedom and security.’’
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, Saturday, March 5, 2016, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) ORG XMIT: OTKBA<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Brynn Anderson, AP)
Trump skipped a scheduled Saturday appearance at a conference of conservatives near Washington, D.C.,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to push his unsuccessful bid in Kansas, making personal appeals for support at his trademark raucous rallies.
"If I lose, I'm going to be so angry at you," Trump told a crowd in Wichita on Saturday.
The Saturday contests —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>wedged between Super Tuesday voting earlier in the week and consequential battles later this month in Michigan, Ohio and Florida<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>did not garner the same hot spotlight, though Kansas voters showed up in force at caucus sites throughout the state.
In Kentucky, meanwhile, turnout was expected to be low as the state traditionally has not voted this early and Saturday marked the first time a presidential nominee was selected by caucus since 1984.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who bowed out of the Republican race last month,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>pushed for the change to a caucus that also allowed him to pursue re-election to his Senate seat, a decision that Saturday won decidedly mixed reviews.
Gov. Matt Bevin<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said the move helped bring early attention to state, where Trump headlined a rowdy<span style="color: Red;">*</span>gathering<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in Louisville.
"Look at this – there are lines of people waiting to vote," said Bevin, who declined to say which candidate he voted for. "For everybody who thinks that having a caucus in Kentucky was not a good thing, have you ever seen this kind of enthusiasm for a primary in the state of Kentucky? You never have."
Yet some voters said the Republican party failed to adequately publicize the change, leading to widespread confusion.
“There are so many uninformed Republicans! The Republican Party of KY has done a poor job of informing its voters of this change!'' Kentucky teacher Jamie Michelle Amburgey wrote on the state GOP Facebook page.
USA TODAY
Cruz: Trump embodies 'Washington corruption'
In Louisiana, with 800,000 registered Republicans,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the campaign has been shadowed by serious economic troubles as state officials are struggling to reconcile yawning budget deficits that threatened basic public services.
Former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, once among a formerly<span style="color: Red;">*</span>crowded field of Republican candidates, dropped out of the race in November after gaining little support.
Going into Saturday's voting, Trump led with 329 delegates. Cruz had 231, Rubio 110 and Kasich 25. In all, 155 GOP delegates were at stake in Saturday's races. Cruz won 12 Maine delegates, Trump won 9 and Kasich won 2. In Kansas, Cruz won 24 delegates, Trump won 9 and Rubio won 6.
Contributing: The Louisville Courier-Journal, The Shreveport Times and Associated Press<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz poses for a photo at a campaign rally on March 5, 2016 in Wichita, Kansas. Cruz won the Kansas caucus Saturday, the Associated Press projected . (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty 608384355 ORIG FILE ID: 513910552<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: J Pat Carter, Getty Images)
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