Trump wins Nevada GOP caucuses

Polls favoring a Donald Trump victory in Nevada proved to be correct, according to first results. With 30 delegates at stake, the second Republican caucuses offer the winning candidate momentum needed to win big in the next 12 state contests on Initial results showed Donald Trump winning with 42 percent of the vote, with Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz fighting for second and third-place finish.

Make sure you get on the Trump line and are not mislead by the Cruz people. They are bad! BE CAREFUL.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 24 Лютий 2016

Iowa was for the evangelicals, New Hampshire the independents, South Carolina for the national security conservatives. Nevada, however, is a demographic puzzle.

The first Western state to caucus for the GOP, Nevada isis relatively new to the process, and is noted for Latino and Mormon constituencies.

Second woman says no one checked her ID. She was just handed a ballot. She says it's very scary. #Nevadacaucus pic.twitter.com/VqxrOianFj

— Emily Cahn (@CahnEmily) 24 Лютий 2016

Another factor differentiating the Nevada caucuses is that they begin and end on a workday evening, running from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. local time.

Early into the political evening, unpredictable drama was already taking place. On Twitter, Politico reporter Marc Caputo and Mashable reporter Emily Cahn shared troubling scenes at the polling stations:

One eyebrow-raising moment came when a Trump supporter decked out in a campaign shirt and hat was seen performing official ballot-counting duties.

Here's a screenshot of a photo from caucus-goer. Ballot collector wearing Trump cap and shirt: pic.twitter.com/7JaBljotv6

— Elaina Plott (@elainaplott) 24 Лютий 2016

More Trump supporters were spotted doing the same thing.

That, however, does not seem to be a violation of Nevada caucus rules. The state party tweeted that no official reports of voter fraud or other problems had been made so far. 

The bigger problem seemed to be the large turnout, causing some stations to run out of ballots.

"Obviously we take reports of double voting very seriously and we will be reviewing ballots," the Nevada Republican Party said in a statement first given to famed Nevada reporter Jon Ralston. "There is a master sign in sheet and that we will be checking closely as well. In terms of running out of ballots, we were prepared for that and more were on site in a matter of minutes. Other thing to know is because you have multiple precincts in one spot, not the entire place was in chaos, just a select few that were rushed which contained the problems."

The type of voters the candidates need to win are hard to pin down. The fact that Nevada is among the states with the highest unemployment in the country – with 6.4 percent out of work – could mean more discontent that can be tapped into. 

Not one but two ballot collectors wearing TRUMP t-shirts at this caucus site in Vegas. pic.twitter.com/DgwyL6eNpL

— Richard Wolffe (@richardwolffedc) 24 Лютий 2016

Nevada residents also tend to move in and out at a higher rate than most other states, making polling a challenge and voter turnout impossible to predict. Though just 7 percent of registered Republicans participated in the 2012 caucuses, there are many new voters this year, and their turnout could spell another landslide victory for front-runner Donald Trump.

Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas are spending heavily to get a good result in the state. So far, Rubio has spent $920,000 and Cruz has spent $790,000 compared to Trump’s $490,000, according to Kantar Media/CMAG figures.

Then there are other two candidates not expected to make as big a splash: retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson who spent $330,000 and Ohio Gov. John Kasich who didn’t spend anything in Nevada.

@MarcACaputo pic.twitter.com/7gX423lLpJ

— Letty Burgin (@LettyBurgin) 24 Лютий 2016