Clinton wins Arkansas, Trump beats Cruz, Rubio in Arkansas GOP primary (Updated)

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Former Secretary of State and former Arkansas First Lady Hillary Clinton was declared the winner of the Arkansas primary by the Associated Press immediately after polls closed, based on exit polls Tuesday. Donald Trump was the winner of the Arkansas Republican primary.

Early in the ballot counting, Clinton led with 66%, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had 31%. Thirty-two delegates are up for grabs in the state’s primary. The state has five more “super delegates” who can vote for the candidate of their choice.

The AP has also called races in Georgia, Virginia, Alabama and Tennessee for Clinton, while U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. I-Vt., won his home state of Vermont. Eleven states and American Samoa are holding votes today.

With 15 of 75 counties reporting, Trump was leading with 34% of the vote, with Sen. Ted Cruz trailing with 29% and Sen. Marco Rubio in third with 25%. Ben Carson was fourth with 5% of the vote, while John Kasich was fifth with 4%.

With 201,431 votes counted, Trump had 68,229 votes, while Cruz had 57,466 and Rubio had 50,614 votes. Carson had 10,840, while Kasich had 8,523. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who had suspended his campaign, collected 2,455 votes, or 1.2% of the total.

Arkansas Republicans will split 37 delegates.

Early numbers in the GOP presidential primary in Arkansas had Donald Trump at 33.6%, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, at 27.6%, and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., at 27.1%. None of the other GOP candidates were above 5% in the early reports.

Legislators last year moved Arkansas’ primary from May to March 1 this year so that voters could be involved earlier in the process along with other Southern states in what was billed as the “SEC primary.” The move accomplished one of its aims in that Arkansas drew more attention  from candidates in years past. Clinton visited Arkansas Sunday, and Republicans Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio made recent visits.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), who supported Rubio, today said Trump has gained attention and support with “his own entertaining skills, through media coverage and through outlandish statements.”

“I think he has conducted himself in a way that doesn’t reflect the seriousness of our times, and the tough issues that face America,” Hutchinson told Talk Business & Politics on Tuesday.

However, Hutchinson reiterated his stance that he will support the GOP nominee even if Trump is the nominee.