Race for the White House

Narrow battle for second

Not only was it a win in the Silver State, but it was a win with a huge margin. With all of the expected vote in, Trump dominated the race with 45.9%. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz featured in another tight battle for second, with Rubio claiming 23.9% of the vote and Cruz 21.4%.

The results in Nevada, a state where 30 delegates are at stake, demonstrated the power of Trump's appeal in this anti-establishment year. It also underscored his ability to use his media savvy and enormous popularity to sweep a state with complex caucus rules and where rivals were far more organized.

Trump increased his vote share over what he won in other primary states, outpacing second place finisher Marco Rubio by double digits, even though Rubio spent part of his childhood in Nevada.

Rubio, however, insisted Wednesday morning that "a majority of Republican voters in this country do not want Donald Trump to be the nominee."

Rubio attributed Trump's continued dominance of the GOP field to the fractured crowd of alternatives.

"Until there's some consolidation here, you're not going to have a clear alternative to Donald Trump," he said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "If we don't come together, we're never going to be able to provide a clear alternative to the direction that Donald Trump wants to take the Republican Party and the country."

One of the most surprising aspects of Trump's win was that entrance polls showed he was winning among Latino GOP caucus-goers even though he has campaigned on a hard-line immigration platform, including building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Entrance polls indicated Latino caucus-goers made up 8% of the GOP electorate and 45% of them planned to back Trump. Historically, however, entrance and exit polls have not proved to be a reliable measure when it comes to the preferences of minority voters, particularly when the sample size was as small as it was in Nevada.

Still, Trump noted his showing among Latino Republicans in his victory speech: "Number one with Hispanics... I'm really happy about that," he said.

Driving Trump's victory were caucus-goers who said they wanted a president from outside the political establishment. While Trump played up support among Latino GOP caucus-goers, the electorate was primarily white—accounting for 84% of those who turned out to caucus. Some 6 in 10 caucus-goers said they were angry about the way the government is functioning.