Trump, Cruz Split Wins in Arizona, Utah
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Leading US Democratic and Republican contenders have split major wins in presidential nominating contests in Arizona and Utah.
Donald Trump rolled to a victory in the Arizona Republican primary, capitalizing on his anti-immigration stance - a position that has long been popular with conservative voters in the state. With the win on Tuesday, Trump takes all of the state's 58 delegates to the Republican National Convention.
In the Democratic Arizona primary, Hillary Clinton was projected to easily account for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Al Jazeera reported.
But Sanders flipped the script by beating the former secretary of state in the Utah caucuses. He doubled up by also taking the Idaho caucuses on Tuesday.
Trump won more than 45 percent of the vote in Arizona, compared to about 21 percent for his main rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
With 75 delegates at stake, Arizona is the biggest prize of the night in the Democratic race.
Clinton stands to gain more than half of those delegates - at least 40, compared to at least 16 for rival Bernie Sanders. That means she will add to her delegate lead of more than 300. She now has 1,203 to Sanders' 860.
By winning the Utah and Idaho caucuses with about 75 percent of the vote, however, Sanders will not suffer too much in the overall count.
Cruz won the Republicans' Idaho caucuses earlier this month.