Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump Win AZ Presidential Primary But Get Trounced in Utah, Idaho

After big wins Tuesday in Arizona's presidential primaries, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton's excitement were tempered by big losses each in Utah and, for Clinton, Idaho.

Winning in Arizona, however, struck major blows to their opponents and to GOP leaders trying to stop the real estate developer from securing enough delegates to lock up the nomination.

Trump's victory gave him all of Arizona's 58 delegates and inched him closer to the 1,237 needed for the nomination.

Following Tuesday's voting, the total delegate count for the Republicans looked like this:

• Donald Trump: 739
• Ted Cruz: 465
• John Kasich: 143

And for the Democrats:

• Hillary Clinton: 1,182 (467 superdelegates)
• Bernie Sanders: 893 (26 superdelegates)

After the Arizona results came in, all eyes were turned to Utah, where Sen. Ted Cruz was the projected winner after heavy turnout kept polls open long after their scheduled closing times.

The GOP establishment's hopes to deny Trump additional delegates, though, rested not on whether Cruz would win but on him winning big. And Cruz managed to earn more than 50 percent of Utah Republican votes, giving him all of the state’s 40 delegates and slowing Trump's march to the nomination.

Trump, though, was looking toward the general election, presumedly against Clinton.

"Incompetent Hillary, despite the horrible attack in Brussels today, wants borders to be weak and open-and let the Muslims flow in," tweeted Trump as Clinton celebrated her own Arizona victory. "No way!"

Clinton, too, was looking forward.

She ignored her sole remaining opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who won Tuesday in Utah and Idaho, and addressed the terrorist assault on Brussels, attacking Trump and Cruz on national security.

“The last thing we need, my friends, are leaders who incite more fear,” Mrs. Clinton said. “In the face of terror, America doesn’t panic. We don’t build walls or turn our backs on our allies. We can’t throw out everything we know about what works and what doesn’t and start torturing.”

Arizona: Republicans (92 percent reporting)

Donald Trump: 47 percent

Ted Cruz: 25 percent

John Kasich: 10 percent

Arizona: Democrats (92 percent reporting)

Hillary Clinton: 58 percent

Bernie Sanders: 40 percent

Idaho: Democrats

Bernie Sanders: 78 percent

Hillary Clinton: 21.2 percent

Utah: Republicans (69 percent reporting)

Ted Cruz: 69.4 percent

John Kasich: 16.6 percen

Donald Trump: 14 percent

Utah: Democrats (63 percent reporting)

Bernie Sanders: 79 percent

Hillary Clinton: 20 percent

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Follow along with Patch's state by state primary coverage:

• Idaho Democratic Caucus Results
• Arizona Republican Primary Results
• Arizona Democratic Primary Results
• Utah Republican Caucus Results
• Utah Democratic Caucus Results

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Continuing a theme during this primary season, Arizona voters reported huge lines with long waits as they voted in the state's 2016 presidential primary throughout the day on Tuesday.

Arizona Central said some of the lines took an hour and a half to get through.

“I’ve never, ever seen a turnout like this even for a regular election, much less a primary,” Carol Houselog, a poll worker, told AZ Central. “I am stunned.”

High voter turnout has usually been good news for Donald Trump, who has galvanized many Republicans to vote in primaries for the first time.

In Idaho and Utah, some precincts had to print extra ballots and delayed caucusing because of long lines and record voter turnouts.

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Original story below:

It's getting difficult to keep up with the various Tuesdays during this 2016 presidential election cycle and just how "Super" each one is.

Nobody will confuse the March 22 voting in Arizona, Utah, Idaho — not to mention American Samoa — with last week's elections in Florida, Ohio and Illinois or the March 1 "SEC primary" that featured 11 states casting ballots.

But this Tuesday's voting, particularly in Arizona, could further shape a primary election that is looking more and more likely to produce a showdown between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and real estate developer Donald Trump in the general election.

• Check back with Patch when polls close for full, live primary results as they come in.

Clinton and Trump have established themselves as clear favorites in the race, building big delegate leads.

For Trump (and his Republican opponents), the magic number is 1,237.

That's how many delegates Trump needs to secure the Republican nomination. If he doesn't have that many by the time the GOP convention rolls around in July, a brokered convention could result in Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or Ohio Gov. John Kasich as the nominee — or someone else from within the party completely.

Trump, who held 681 pledged delegates heading into Tuesday's voting, could take a big step towards that magic number with a win in Arizona, a winner-take-all state with a hearty 58 delegates up for grabs. He had a 13-point lead in the latest state poll conducted there, which had a 5.4-percent margin of error.

Cruz was expected to take home a big win in Utah. Republicans in American Samoa will also vote Tuesday.

On the Democratic side, Clinton hoped to stave off a comeback by her rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Before Tuesday's voting, Sanders trailed significantly in state polling in Arizona, where 85 Democratic delegates were up for grabs, 76 of which will be distributed proportionally. But a massive Sanders upset would not be unprecedented in this campaign after his big win in Michigan.

Polling in Idaho and Utah, the two other states where Democrats are voting Tuesday, showed a tight race between the two candidates.

Image via Gage Skidmore, Flickr