Marco Rubio emerged Tuesday night with a win in Minnesota, just enough to avoid headlines saying he’s still winless.
Minnesota was the only Super Tuesday state where he had been leading in earlier polls, and is the one he desperately needed to win. Ted Cruz, who won two states, placed second in Minnesota, while the night’s big winner Donald Trump came in third.
“As Minnesotans started paying close attention to the race and candidates, they moved in large numbers to Marco because they believe he is the conservative in the race who can actually beat Clinton in November,” said Jeff Johnson, Rubio’s grassroots chairman for the state and Hennepin County commissioner. “We really saw the excitement and momentum for Marco building here a few weeks ago, and it never stopped.”
With about 80 percent of the vote in, Rubio held 37 percent of the total, while Cruz had 28 percent and Trump had 21 percent. If those results hold when the final tally comes in, it means Rubio will win about 12 of Minnesota’s 38 delegates. Cruz will claim about 9, and Trump will take around 7. The remainder will remain up for grabs.
“A month ago, I would’ve said Cruz,” said Jason Lewis, a long-time talk radio host now running to replace retiring Rep. John Kline, R-Minn. “I’ve come across a number of voters who were Cruz people. But Rubio had the most money, the most organization, and he was here this week,” he said, referring to a rally Rubio held in the state a few days ago.
“This helps him live to fight another day, because now he’s at least got a victory,” Lewis added.
“I’m a strong fiscal conservative, and on most other things pretty libertarian,” said Amy Koch, a former majority leader in the Minnesota Senate who now owns a bar and bowling alley in rural Minnesota. “That plays into my decision, but I’m also very concerned about electability and branding of the Republican Party in general.”
“I am not a fan of Trump. The other candidates are fine,” she added. “I don’t know that I would support Trump in a general election.”
Others discounted Rubio’s win. Rep. Steve Drazkowski, who organized for months for Cruz, pointed out that Rubio was the only prominent candidate who had yet to win a state. However, he added, Cruz remained ahead of Rubio nationally.
“Cruz has won more delegates overall than Rubio has, and he’s won more states,” Drazkowski said. “Rubio’s campaign had several professional staffers in Minnesota for the last several weeks. He put all of his marbles in Minnesota because he needed to demonstrate some sort of win. ”
Though the state was an important win for symbolic reasons, its 38 delegates accounted for just six percent of the 595 allocated by elections held around the country on Tuesday. Trump began the day with 82 delegates, compared to 16 for Cruz and 15 for Rubio.
