Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump captured the Arizona Republican primary on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press and news networks, as GOP candidates battled there and in caucuses in Utah.
Tuesday's contests came a week after Trump expanded his advantage in the Republican presidential race to more than 250 delegates after primary wins in Florida, Illinois and North Carolina.
Trump had been favored in Arizona, which, as a winner-take-all state, will award all of its 58 delegates to the New York billionaire.
"It looks like we're doing very well in Arizona, and very well pretty much everyplace else," Trump said Monday at a news conference in Washington. The New York billionaire held large rallies Saturday in Fountain Hills, Ariz., and Tucson.
Terror bomb blasts that killed dozens in Brussels Tuesday provided a somber backdrop to Tuesday's contests, as White House hopefuls paused to react to the news.
Trump, the Republican front-runner who already had been running TV ads in Arizona touting his proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from traveling to the United States, tweeted: "I have proven to be far more correct about terrorism than anybody- and it’s not even close. Hopefully AZ and UT will be voting for me today!"
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said the West no longer can afford "to deny this enemy exists out of a combination of political correctness and fear."
Cruz was seen as the favorite to win Utah's caucus and hoped to cross the 50% threshold to capture all of the state's 40 delegates (otherwise, they'll be distributed proportionally). The state is allowing online voting, which does not close until 11 p.m. local time, so results are not expected until the early morning hours.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich also denounced the Brussels attacks, saying the United States needed to "redouble our efforts with our allies to identify, root out and destroy the perpetrators of such acts of evil."
Kasich, who won his home state of Ohio a week ago but lags well behind in delegates, has campaigned in Utah in recent days, sparking some criticism from Cruz backers that he may cut into the Texas senator's support, allowing Trump to capture delegates and widen his overall lead.
Cruz, emphasized this theme during an appearance on Sunday.
“As the field grows narrow, Trump loses ground,” Cruz said at a Peoria, Ariz., church. “We’re the one campaign that can stop him. A head-to-head battle makes Trump weaker and us stronger.”
On NBC's Meet the Press Sunday, Kasich, when asked about his efforts in the state said, "I'm going to compete across the country and tell people who I am and let the chips fall where they may. And let me also tell you, no one — no one is going to that convention with enough delegates."
Nowicki reported from Phoenix.
Contributing: Alia Rau, Rebekah L. Sanders and Yihyun Jeong, The Arizona Republic
