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Trump wins Arizona Republican primary; Cruz takes Utah

Donald Trump, the celebrity billionaire who has channeled the anger and frustration of Arizona’s immigration hardliners into national Republican front-runner status, on Tuesday claimed an easy victory in Arizona’s presidential primary.

Trump captured Arizona’s 58 winner-take-all delegates, despite an aggressive challenge from his chief GOP rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

The Associated Press called the race for Trump even as hundreds of voters across Maricopa County stood in long lines to cast their ballots on a day marked by hours-long waits, confusion and fewer polling sites than in prior years.

A triumphant Trump tweeted: "Much bigger win than anticipated in Arizona. Thank you, I will never forget!"

Cruz made a late play for the state, rallying supporters in Phoenix on Friday and in Peoria on Sunday, despite trailing Trump in the few public polls ahead of the presidential preference election, as Arizona’s primary is officially known.

While losing Arizona, Cruz prevailed in Utah's caucuses where 40 delegates were up for grabs.

But Trump took the bigger prize in Arizona, a state he had courted. Last year, he presided over well-attended rallies in Phoenix and Mesa and has seemed to gain strength from the state’s reputation for antagonism toward illegal immigration.

Trump’s harsh rhetoric on Mexican immigrants has drawn widespread fire from Latino activists and civil-rights groups, but his outsider candidacy was embraced by the state’s border hawks such as Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former governor Jan Brewer.

Pro-Trump Arizona voters cited his immigration policies, such as his promised border wall built at Mexico's expense, as well as his perceived economic prowess and his anti-establishment swagger.

"We need an outsider who will get things done," Republican Phil Wyatt, 38, said.

Chris Rohman, a 45-year-old Mesa Republican, voted for Trump because he represents "a change in D.C.'s establishment hand-picked candidates."

Patrick Uzcategui, 21, said immigration was his top issue. "Trump wants the wall and won't lie to us like Ted Cruz," the Republican told The Republic.

But Stratton Hickcox, a 31-year-old Republican, said he voted for Cruz because he was "the best conservative left to beat Donald."

"Donald isn't a Republican, he isn't a conservative, he is a conman preying on peoples fears," Hickcox said. "Trump supporters have every right to be mad, but if they think Trump is the answer, they will be sorely mistaken when they find out they voted for a big-government New York liberal."

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the Republican candidate in third place, did not actively compete in Arizona, although he still attracted support from GOP voters looking for an alternative to Trump and Cruz.

Bill Holder, a 65-year-old lawyer in Phoenix, waited in line for 90 minutes to cast a vote for Kasich. “He’s the only moderate Republican left,” he said.

Holder paid close attention this primary election to all of the issues discussed by the candidates, including illegal immigration, foreign policy and national security.

Holder said he supported Kasich’s illegal immigration stance because he’s “not harsh” like Cruz or Trump: “That’s the one thing I like about him, where (Marco) Rubio would’ve been my next choice, but he’s gone now.”

Trump also may have benefited from Rubio supporters. Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida, exited the GOP race on March 15, but early voting in the Arizona primary was well underway by that point.

Terror bomb blasts that killed dozens in Brussels on Tuesday provided a somber backdrop to Arizona's primary, which the candidates viewed as a potentially crucial battle in the 2016 race.

All five candidates still in contention paused their campaigning to react to the attacks in the European Union's unofficial capital.

Trump, 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!"

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria took responsibility for the attacks.

Cruz said the West no longer can afford "to deny this enemy exists out of a combination of political correctness and fear.

“We need to immediately halt the flow of refugees from countries with a significant al-Qaida or ISIS presence," Cruz said. "We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized."

Kasich likewise denounced the latest round of terror strikes: "We must also redouble our efforts with our allies to identify, root out and destroy the perpetrators of such acts of evil."

It was unclear early Tuesday how much, if at all, the Brussels terrorism weighed on the minds of Democratic and Republican Arizona voters.

Republican Kevin Kau, 49, said he voted for Kasich because, "He is the only candidate who is reasonable and can get our government working together again." He said he would not ultimately support Trump as the GOP nominee because "he only cares about himself."

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