Donald Trump wins Texas Republican presidential primary
Former President Donald Trump beat out former ambassador Nikki Haley in the Texas Republican presidential primary on Super Tuesday, according to a call from the AP.
President Joe Biden won the Texas Democratic primary, further solidifying the all-but-certain rematch between the two men.
Trump received more than 70% of the vote in the Lone Star State primary.
Trump's opposition, Haley, said she would stay in the race through Super Tuesday, but with Trump picking up more wins, it appears she will drop out.
That means there will be a rematch between Biden and Trump in November.
In 2020, Trump defeated Biden in Texas, earning 52% of the vote to Biden's 46%.
Less than a week ago, the candidates staged rival events on the banks of the Rio Grande along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Biden and Trump make trips to Texas to discuss border crisis
The border crisis in Texas was the backdrop for the presidential campaign Thursday.
According to an AP-NORC poll in January, the share of voters concerned about immigration rose to 35% from 27% last year. Fifty-five percent of Republicans say the government needs to focus on immigration in 2024, while 22% of Democrats listed immigration as a priority. That’s up from 45% and 14%, respectively, from December 2022.
The dueling Rio Grande trips are an indication not only that Biden and Trump are already looking beyond the primaries to a likely rematch of their 2020 campaign, but also that the issues of immigration and border security will continue to be a dominant topic as in recent elections.
Trump has made illegal immigration a central theme of all his presidential campaigns. Earlier this year, he helped scuttle a bipartisan Senate package that coupled border security measures with aid for Ukraine, arguing it would hand Democrats a political win and calling it a "death wish for the Republican Party."
For his part, Biden recently has adopted a more aggressive tone on the issue, saying he would shut down the border if he could and mulling unilateral executive actions that progressives in his party have said are reminiscent of Trump.
As of Super Tuesday, there will be 132 days until the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, 167 days until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and 245 until the November general election.
Delegate Count
The Associated Press contributed to this report.