Donald Trump Wins Nevada Caucuses, Collecting Third Straight Victory

Turnout in Nevada on Tuesday night was reported to be high compared with previous caucuses. Mr. Trump was seen as a favorite going into the contest, but his victory still serves as a setback for his chief competitors, Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, who must now try to break Mr. Trump’s winning streak in the larger states that vote in the coming weeks.

For Mr. Trump, the outcome in Nevada is another sign of his campaign’s durability and the breadth of his appeal: He has now handily won primary elections in New England and in the South, and a caucus fight in the far West. He won over independent voters in New Hampshire and evangelicals in South Carolina, and prevailed in Nevada, where Mormon voters and rural activists wield influence.

This latest triumph may only encourage Mr. Trump in the brash campaign style that has alienated many Republican officials and mainstream voters. In the two days leading up to the Nevada caucuses, Mr. Trump called Mr. Cruz a liar and threatened to deliver vicious attacks on Mr. Rubio as well.

At a rally in Las Vegas on Monday evening, Mr. Trump ridiculed a protester in his audience and told supporters that he would have liked to “punch him in the face.”

The results are likely to reinforce the sense among national Republican leaders that only direct confrontation can block Mr. Trump from claiming the party’s nomination, because none of the party’s most powerful voting blocs seems likely to thwart him on its own, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Mr. Rubio, on the other hand, has sought to unite Republican leaders behind his bid, casting himself as the only candidate capable both of defeating Mr. Trump and winning a difficult general election race. Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, appeared to open a wider path in the race for Mr. Rubio when he ended his campaign on Saturday after a disappointing finish in the South Carolina primary.

A host of senators and members of Congress and a few governors have backed Mr. Rubio in recent days, bolstering his claim on support from the national party establishment. And Mr. Rubio has criticized Mr. Cruz in increasingly personal terms, calling him a dishonest politician who has routinely lied to voters.

But Mr. Rubio has still finished no better than second in any nominating contest, and that did not change in Nevada, where he had strong support from top Republican elected officials.

Two other candidates, Gov. John Kasich of Ohio and Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, competed in the Nevada caucuses, but they never appeared to be in a position to win.

Their chief role might have been to siphon away votes from Mr. Rubio and Mr. Cruz — Mr. Carson drawing votes from religious Republicans, and Mr. Kasich pulling away support among more centrist voters.