Donald Trump wins Michigan, Mississippi primaries; Hillary loses Michigan to Sanders but wins Mississippi

 Donald Trump racked up another two victories Tuesday night, winning key primaries in Michigan and Mississippi and widening his lead in the delegate count for the GOP presidential nomination, but Hillary Clinton faltered, losing the critical state of Michigan to Bernie Sanders.

Both GOP races were called for the mogul shortly after polls closed, prompting Trump to appear for a rambling news conference at his Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., where he touted several of his properties, products and, of course, himself.

"Only one person did well tonight: Donald Trump," the magnate, flanked by cases of Trump-branded water, wine and steaks, said. "They attacked me viciously and every single one who attacked me is gone."

He also showed off an edition of the now defunct Trump Magazine and described how he sold Trump Airlines in a “great” deal.
 The outspoken mogul also uncharacteristically lauded praise on members of the Republican establishment — who have in recent weeks ripped into his surging candidacy.

“We have some terrific people,” Trump, who won seven of 11 Super Tuesday states last week, building a sizeable lead in the delegate count, said. “It’s very, very important if we’re going to be effective … that our senators and that our congressmen get reelected.”
 With 94% of precincts reporting in Michigan, Trump had the support of 37% of voters in the Wolverine State, compared with 25% for Ted Cruz and 24% for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who had campaigned and spent heavily in the state.

Hillary Clinton easily beat Bernie Sanders in Mississippi’s Democratic primary Tuesday, but lost in Michigan.

Marco Rubio got 9% support, a bruising finish for the Florida senator’s campaign.

Trump’s strong performance in the state suggested that critical comments last week from 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, who grew up in Michigan and whose father was the state’s governor for seven years in the 1960’s, had little effect on voters.
 With nearly all the precincts reporting in Mississippi, meanwhile, Trump had 47% support, compared with 36% for Cruz and 9% for Kasich. Rubio had a poor showing in the Magnolia State, as well, getting 5% support.

Cruz, however, pulled off a victory in Idaho, where with half of the state’s precincts reporting, he had 43% support.
 Trump had 28%, Rubio had 18% and Kasich got 7% in the Gem State.

Republicans voters also headed to the polls Tuesday in Hawaii, where returns were expected later in the evening.

On the Democratic side, Sanders pulled out an unexpected and narrow win over Clinton in Michigan.

With over 95% of the precincts in the state reporting, Sanders was declared the winner with 50% support, compared with 48% for Clinton, despite having trailed the former First Lady in some polls in the state as recently as Monday by 12 points.

Donald Trump was declared the victor of the GOP primaries in Michigan and Mississippi.

But in the end, due to the proportional allocation of delegates, the Vermont senator ended up splitting the Wolverine State’s 147 delegates.

Clinton, however, cruised to a runaway win in Mississippi, getting 83% support, compared with 16% for Sanders, with 99% of the state’s precincts reporting.

At a rally in Cleveland, the former secretary of state took aim the Republican candidates.“We have our differences,” she said of disagreements with Sanders. But those differences pale in comparison to what happening on the Republican side.” “Every time I think it can’t get any uglier, they find a way,” she added. “Running for President shouldn’t be about delivering insults, it should be about delivering results.”

For Republicans, 150 delegates were at stake in the party’s four contests, while for Democrats, 188 were up for grabs in the party’s two contests.

With her performance Tuesday, Clinton had so far expanded her delegate count to 1,162, which includes superdelegates, compared with 503 for Sanders.

In the Republican race, Trump had so far grown his collection of delegates to 428, compared with 315 for Cruz. Rubio had 151 and Kasich had 52.

Many delegates in both parties were yet to be awarded, as results continued to come in.