Connecticut Republican Primary 2016: Trump Wins, Says He Will Beat Hillary Clinton 'So Easily'

By BRIAN MCCREADY (Patch Staff)

Update, 10 p.m.:

After sweeping through five presidential primaries on Tuesday night, Donald Trump declared himself the GOP's "presumptive nominee" while speaking from Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Trump said his win in the Northeast was "far bigger than we expected" and that “we will beat Hillary so easily.”

Trump touted his victory in New York when he received 60 percent of the vote with three people in the race, saying "that's hard."

Trump took 105,527 votes in Connecticut compared to Kasich's 49,470 and Cruz's 21,166 with 84 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Secretary of the State office at 11:30 p.m. Trump walked away with about 59 percent of the vote at that time.

Trump also called the plan by his competitors John Kasich and Ted Cruz to team up in an effort to stop him as a sign of weakness.

Regarding Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, Trump said she would be a "horrible" president and said she knows "nothing about jobs, except jobs for herself."

"I'm going to bring jobs to this country like you've never seen," Trump said.

He also said that once he takes on Clinton "one-one-one, she will be much easier to take down that the people I've already beaten."

Trump, who extended his support for Bernie Sanders and said he's been treated badly by the Democratic party and should run as an independent, took one last dig at Clinton before wrapping up.

"Frankly, if Hillary Clinton was a man, she wouldn't get 5 percent," Trump said. "The only thing she's got going is the woman's card and the beautiful thing is women don't like her and look at how well I did with women tonight."

Update, 9 p.m.:

With 41 percent reporting in Connecticut, Donald Trump received 60 percent while Ohio Gov. John Kasich garnered 25 percent and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz had 11.9 percent of the vote, according to CNN.

Update, 8 p.m.:

Donald Trump followed his dominating victory in New York by winning Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland, the Associated Press reported as soon as the polls closed on Tuesday night.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. but those in line by that time are still allowed to cast their ballots.

Update 5 p.m.: While Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was the only presidential candidate to not come to Connecticut to campaign, the director of his Ellington headquarters was optimistic about Cruz becoming the eventual Republican nominee.

“Americans tend to do the right thing and I think they will,” Joel Leyden said, pointing to the GOP nominating convention.

Leyden said he worked on the Trump campaign for about four months as late as last spring, but left and joined forces with Cruz.

“Donald Trump is a master at marketing and everything he does is choreographed by himself,” Leyden said. “And he is convincing a lot of people.”

He continued, “But …”

Then paused and carefully chose his words.

“He is not fit to be president,” he said.

Leyden said Connecticut is hard to predict, and described it as “a schizophrenic” state that is highly Democratic but socially “not that warm.”

He said if Cruz can make a good showing in the Connecticut primary, he would be primed “to secure delegates at the convention.”

“Especially the unbound delegates and every delegate if it goes to a second ballot,” he said. “Trump would not be a good fit. Ted could get along with Congress.”

Update 12:20 p.m.: Dreary weather hardly kept voters away from the polls in Fairfield. A steady stream of people poured into the voting location at Stratfield Elementary School before noon. Things are shaping up to be a historic primary for the location.

Moderator Bruce Carter at Stratfield Elementary School in Fairfield said he had never seen such high turnout for a Republican primary in his 34 years as a moderator.

Around 11:30 a.m. about 19 percent of registered Republicans at the voting location had already voted, Carter said. In a typical primary that is the turnout for an entire day. The polling location still had more than eight hours to go.

“This is very unusual for a primary,” he said. “I’m dying to see the totals.”

A typical primary at the location can go an hour or more without seeing a voter, Carter said. That wasn’t the case Tuesday as both Republicans and Democrats filled the school’s parking lot to cast their votes.

Also unusual is the number of new voters who signed up before the primary, he said. Many people came in with paperwork that proved they had recently registered to vote or had joined a political party.

Original story: For the first time in recent history, the Connecticut Republican Presidential primary is of great importance.

Frontrunner Donald Trump will look to capitalize on his recent dominating victory in New York over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

A Qunnipiac University poll released April 20 shows Trump with 48 percent of the vote among likely Republican primary voters while Kasich holds 28 percent of the vote and Cruz comes in with 19 percent of the vote. Connecticut has 28 delegates up for grabs.

(Come back to this article for live updates throughout primary day and also at night when the results come in.)

A Trump victory in Connecticut is a safe bet but for Trump all that matter is delegates now. Winning isn’t enough for Trump as he needs every delegate he can to win the nomination before the Republican National Convention this summer in Cleveland.

If Trump falls short of the delegates needed to claim victory it would give his opponents Cruz, Kasich and conceivably someone else an opportunity to potentially wrestle the nomination away from him at the convention.

This is why Trump has held three rallies in the state. The first one drew more than 7,000 people in Hartford and the real estate mogul held two public rallies in Connecticut on Saturday.

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Kasich has also made the trek to Connecticut twice and keeps pointing to national polls that show he is the only GOP presidential candidate to beat both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Cruz has not campaigned in Connecticut and is expected to finish a distant third.

In fact, Kasich’s national poll numbers are beginning to sneak up on Cruz but Cruz still holds a huge delegate advantage over Kasich.

Both Cruz and Kasich have been eliminated from winning the number of delegates necessary to claim the GOP presidential nomination prior to the convention. Trump still has a chance to reach the magic number of 1,237.

He has 845, trailed by Cruz with 559 and Kasich with 148. Trump needs 392 of the remaining 733 delegates to secure the nomination.

Many factors are leading to what looks like a Connecticut victory for Trump, said Scott McLean, professor of political science at Quinnipiac University. Connecticut’s proximity to New York is one of the biggest factors.

“He’s got that media market that comes into Connecticut, he’s got the Connecticut connections and it’s easier for him to campaign here,” he said.

Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD said, "Connecticut Republicans have gone for outsider candidates such as Linda McMahon and Tom Foley. They continue that trend with Donald Trump.”

"The conventional wisdom that Sen. Cruz is too conservative for Connecticut looks true, as he comes in a distant third in the Republican primary. Kasich clearly is outpacing Cruz for second, but running well behind Trump,” Schwartz said.

During a campaign rally Saturday in Waterbury, Trump said his opponents should drop out since they can’t reach the number of delegates needed to win the nomination.

He repeatedly referred to Cruz as “Lyin Ted,” and called Hillary Clinton “Crooked Hillary.”

Trump said Cruz is trying to buy the nomination by offering dinners and trips to get delegates to support him. Trump said as a self-funded candidate he’s not beholden to political action committees and doesn’t need to do what’s good for donors.

During his campaign stops in Connecticut, Trump said he’d build the wall, end Obamacare and the Common Core, and protect the Second Amendment. He also said he’s best equipped to bring jobs back to America.

Kasich in his Connecticut visits said when delegates go to convention hall they feel a sense of responsibility and that he was the only candidate with a record of success. Many conservatives talk about President Ronald Reagan, but Kasich said he actually worked with him and supported him before he became popular.

Gary L. Rose, Ph.D., Professor and Chair in the Department of Government, Politics and Global Studies at Sacred Heart University, said there is no doubt Trump has generated numerous new voters and interest in the election.

“On the Republican side, the turnouts and participation rates have been very encouraging. A lot of that is because of Trump, he’s drawn in millions of new voters into the process,” Rose said.

Other primaries on Tuesday include Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Rhode Island.

After Tuesday's primaries, the following contests remain on the calendar: Indiana (May 3); Nebraska and West Virginia (May 10); Oregon (May 17); Washington (May 24); and California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota (June 7).

The Republican National Convention is in Cleveland from July 18 through July 21.

Polls are open in Connecticut from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. on April 26. Click here to find your polling location.

Additional reporting by Al Branch, Rich Scinto and Vinnie Salzo