UPDATE: Donald Trump Falls Hard, Ted Cruz Wins in Utah

Update 1:30 a.m.

Sen. Ted Cruz was projected to capture all of Utah's 40 delegates, according to the Associated Press.

With 54 percent of the precincts, Cruz was leading by more than 50 points over his nearest opponent, John Kasich.

Percent of vote: (54 percent reporting)

Ted Cruz: 69.2 percent

John Kasich: 16.8 percent

Donald Trump: 14 percent

Update 12:30 a.m. MDT

Not only did Sen. Ted Cruz show that he may be the only candidate capable of winning against Donald Trump, he showed that he may be the only one capable of winning BIG against him.

Cruz has won Utah by a landslide.

Not only did Trump not win, it's looking like he will come in third falling behind John Kasich as well.

It seems whatever luck he had with his win in Arizona stopped at the border.

Cruz has a very good chance of winning all 40 of the state's delegates. With 24 percent of the precincts, Cruz was leading by 54 points over John Kasich.

Percent of vote: (24 percent reporting)

Ted Cruz: 70.7 percent

John Kasich: 16 percent

Donald Trump: 13.3 percent

If Cruz is able to win with a super majority of the votes, he would take all 40 delegates. If not, the delegates will be divided proportionally.

Cruz received a lot of backing in Utah. He was endorsed by both Governor Gary Herbert and Senator Mike Lee and received strong support from former Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney who is well respected in the state.

Update 12:18 a.m. MDT

Sen. Ted Cruz is looking at a runaway victory in Utah. With 11 percent of the precincts, Cruz is leading by 50 percentage points.

Percent of vote: (11 percent reporting)

Ted Cruz: 67.6 percent

John Kasich: 17.8 percent

Donald Trump: 15.1 percent

Update 11:48 p.m. MDT

Sen. Ted Cruz was looking to take all of Utah's 40 delegates — and more importantly deny any of them to Donald Trump — by winning 50 percent-plus 1 Tuesday in the state's Republican caucus.

Percent of vote (3 percent of precincts reporting)

Ted Cruz: 59 percent

John Kasich: 22 percent

Donald Trump: 19 percent..

If Cruz is able hold to win with a super majority of the votes, he would take all 40 delegates. If not, the delegates will be divided proportionally.

Update: 11:10 p.m. MDT

With 2 percent of the precincts reporting, Ted Cruz is leading rival Donald Trump 62 to 23.4 percent. John Kasich is a distant third at 14.6 percent.

Update: 8:40 p.m. MDT

Authorities in Utah are reporting massive turnout in Utah, a key battle state for Tuesday's Republican presidential caucuses, not so much for who wins the race but more for who wins by how much.

Sen.Ted Cruz of Texas is looking to exceed 50 percent of the vote in Utah, which would give him 40 of the state’s delegates. If no, Utah’s delegates will be distributed to Cruz, Donald Trump and John Kasich on a proportional basis, provided each reaches a 15 percent vote threshold.

Original Story

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was expected to cut into Republican frontrunner Donald Trump's delegate lead with a big win in Utah's caucuses Tuesday night.

Cruz held a huge lead in state polling and received a big endorsement on the eve of the caucuses.

Utah's Republican caucuses last from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. local time.

• Check back with Patch when polls close for live results from Utah's Republican caucuses.

Cruz held a big lead in recent state polls and should earn a significant portion of Utah's 40 delegates that are up for grabs.

In the most recent one, conducted by Y2 Analytics, Cruz led Ohio Gov. John Kasich by 24 percentage points and led Trump by more than 40. The poll surveyed 500 likely Republican voters between March 17 and 19 and had a margin of error of 4.38 percent.

Cruz was also endorsed Monday by Utah Gov. Gary Herbert.

"Ted Cruz is a consistent conservative who understands the importance of federalism," Herbert said in a Facebook post announcing the endorsement. "I’m confident he will work to limit the federal government when it comes to education, public lands and other issues where states can do better than the federal government."

A Cruz win and a poor showing by Trump would cut in to Trump's lead over the field, as Republicans seek to stop him from gaining the 1,237 delegates necessary to secure the Republican nomination.

Heading into Tuesday, Trump had 678 pledged delegates, well ahead of the 423 for Cruz and 143 for Kasich.

Images via Gage Skidmore, Flickr