Donald Trump wins Nevada Republican primary
To gain the endorsement of their parties candidates must win a simple majority of states, with Trump leading the field amongst the Republic candidates.
Following defeat in South Carolina last week former Florida Governor Jeb Bush - brother of former President George W. Bush - dropped out of the race.
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Hide AdIt is expected that fellow Republican hopeful Ben Carson will also withdraw in the coming weeks.
On Tuesday March 1st several states go to the polls to choose both Republic and Democratic candidates on what is known as ‘Super Tuesday’ in the US.
The date is taken as a measure of overall performance, with Trump presently looking set to extend his lead.
The property speculator has taken a hardline approach to immigration, particularly against Hispanic newcomers to the US.
More than 55 million Americans are of Hispanic origin, a significant part of the potential voter base, especially in southern states where Republicans traditionally perform better.
In Nevada, Trump took home just under 46 per cent of the vote in a five-way battle, clearly beating his nearest rivals Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
In the Democratic Nevada caucus Bernie Sanders very nearly shocked Hillary Clinton last week, losing to the American Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs by just five per cent in a two horse race.
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Hide AdThe Clinton campaign have been fighting to stop the momentum gained by Sanders in the past few weeks.
“The truth is that for a campaign that started out as a fringe campaign at 3 per cent in the polls we have enormous momentum”, Sanders said in an interview with American news network CNN after his defeat.
Sanders sat for many years as an independent politician at both state and federal level. This week the Chicago Tribune newspaper published archive photos of Sanders being arrested for joining the city’s black community in civil rights protests in the 1960s. Sanders was a student at the University of Chicago at the time.
Income inequality and racial segregation are still huge problems in American cities. In the first months of 2016, the murder rate in Chicago was twice that of the same period last year, with many of the killings taking place in minority neighbourhoods.
Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel is currently at the centre of an ongoing scandal over the shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald by police, after it was revealed the former White House official knew of allegations of police brutality whilst campaigning for re-election.
President Obama has refused to endorse either Democratic candidate until the selection battle is over.
He has, though, attacked Trump, saying that ‘Donald Trump will not be President because it is a serious job.’
Trump had previously backed the so-called ‘birther’ movement to prove that President Obama was not born in the US and thus unable to become President.