6 things we learned from the Nevada GOP caucus
Chalk up another win for Donald Trump after the business mogul took Nevada in Tuesday night's Republican caucus. This was Trump's third victory in a row and he has unquestionably established himself as the GOP front-runner. Now, the candidates prepare for the most important day in the primary schedule, March 1, in which 16 states hold either a primary or caucus.
First, here are 6 things we learned from the Nevada caucus. Next up: Super Tuesday.
1. TRUMP: PARTY ON
"We will be celebrating for a long time tonight, have a good time." So were the words of the Nevada winner, Donald Trump, who after coming up short in the Iowa caucus has claimed one landslide victory after the other.
Trump has won each of the last three states by at least 10 percentage points or more, and had his most dominating victory yet in Nevada, sealing more than 40% of the votes.
According to aggregate polls from Real Clear Politics, Trump is the favorite in many of the Super Tuesday states such as Oklahoma, Georgia, and Massachusetts.
2. MILLENNIAL VOTE IS RUBIO'S (HISPANIC? NOT SO MUCH)
What may be the most valuable takeaway of the night for Rubio was that he can win with voters between the ages of 18 to 29 as exit polls showed he captured 39% of that demo compared to Trump's 30%.
But, not so fast with the celebrations. Rubio didn't win over a majority of the Hispanic vote, a demographic that the son of Cuban immigrants should have in the bag if he hopes to gain ground on Trump.
3. RUBIO AS 'THE ALTERNATIVE' IS STILL ALIVE & WELL
Rubio's trying to position himself as the best candidate to challenge Trump, and Nevada helped as the Florida senator picked up second place overall, which he did as well in South Carolina.
But more importantly, he may be getting some Jeb Bush votes, according to The New York Times, up for grabs since the former Florida governor suspended his campaign.
4. TED CRUZ NEEDS SUPER TUESDAY LIKE NOBODY'S BUSINESS
After an upset win in the Iowa caucus, the senator from Texas has yet to land another victory.
In RCP's same aggregate polls, Cruz is the projected runner-up in Georgia and Oklahoma and likely winner in his home state of Texas.
Hurting matters: Cruz's most promising demographic, white Evangelicals, is suddenly flocking to Trump.
5. CARSON AND KASICH WHO?
Ben Carson's campaign fuel tank is almost on empty.
He has yet to excel in any one state and preliminary polls don't predict a good outcome on Super Tuesday.
He recently said in an interview that Obama "was raised white", to argue that it was a stretch for the president to claim that he identifies with the experiences of African Americans.
John Kasich, having won New Hampshire, is projected to do well in Michigan, but he, too, is unlikely to catch fire.
6. NEVADA NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME
Voters turned out for the caucus, but some reports, says Paste BN, say the state's party wasn't prepared, with "reports of double voting and of too few ballots."
Max Bayer is a University of Wisconsin-Madison student and a Paste BN College correspondent.
This story originally appeared on the Paste BN College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.