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Donald Trump wins Georgia Republican primary

Trump addresses supporters in Valdosta, Georgia.
Trump addresses supporters in Valdosta, Georgia.
Trump addresses supporters in Valdosta, Georgia.
Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images

Donald Trump has won the Georgia primary, according to Fox and NBC News. This wasn't a surprise, as recent polls showed Trump with a double-digit lead.

Losing Georgia is bad news for Marco Rubio

Georgia should have been Marco Rubio territory. Atlanta, Savannah, and their surrounding suburbs are full of the kind of suburban professionals that have been most receptive to Rubio’s message.

A recent rally in Kennesaw, a suburb of Atlanta, attracted 7,000 people, according to Politico, compared to just 1,200 for a nearby Ted Cruz rally. But Trump bested them both, holding a rally in Valdosta, in the South of Georgia, that drew 10,000 supporters. The rally attracted controversy after 30 black students said they were ejected from the rally without provocation.

The loss is also a disappointment for Ted Cruz. He scored his first primary victory in Iowa with the strong support of evangelical voters, who made up 62 percent of the Republican electorate in that state. Evangelicals made up 68 percent of the vote in Georgia, so Cruz might have expected to do well here.

Trump is riding a nationwide wave of popularity

We won’t know the full results from Tuesday’s votes until Wednesday morning, but all signs suggest that — with the exception of Texas and perhaps one or two other states — Trump will prevail in a rout. Polls ahead of Tuesday’s vote showed Trump with double-digit leads in at least seven of the 11 states holding primaries on Tuesday.

No matter how well he does on Tuesday, Trump won’t yet have enough votes to clinch the Republican nomination. But if Trump’s showing in the Super Tuesday primaries is as strong as the polls suggest, it will put him on an almost unstoppable path to the nomination.


Watch: Who votes in presidential primaries?

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