Donald Trump Projected Winner of Nevada Republican Caucuses, Entrance Poll Results Show

Trump finished first in the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries.

ByABC News
February 24, 2016, 6:50 AM

— -- ABC News projects that Donald Trump will be the winner of the Nevada Republican Caucuses, based on entrance poll results.

ABC News projects that Marco Rubio is second and Ted Cruz is third based on the vote.

"We love Nevada," Trump told a cheering crowd in Las Vegas Tuesday night. "We will be celebrating for a long time."

Of the three nominating contests held before Nevada, Trump finished first in the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries. Cruz finished first in the Iowa caucuses. Rubio took second place in South Carolina, but has yet to score an outright win.

But even as Trump relished his victory in the Silver State, he wasted no time turning his attention to the nominating contests still to come.

"It’s going to be an amazing two months," Trump said. "We might not even need the two months."

From Nevada, the battle for the Republican presidential nomination moves into the dozen states holding primaries or caucuses on March 1. Super Tuesday could further whittle down the GOP field.

In his own remarks, Cruz congratulated Trump "on a strong evening tonight," but positioned himself as the strongest candidate to take him on.

"History teaches us that nobody has ever won the nomination without winning one of the first three primaries,” Cruz said. “And there are only two people who have won one of the first three primaries: Donald Trump and us.”

During his remarks, Trump ticked off several groups such as evangelical Christians and Hispanics that entrance polls in Nevada showed him winning.

“Number one with Hispanics,” Trump said. "I’m really happy about that."

According to entrance poll results in Nevada, six in 10 caucus-goers also said they prefer someone from outside the political establishment.

At an event in Sparks, Nevada ahead of the caucuses, Trump was taking aim at his rivals, calling Cruz a “weak little baby” and the “best” liar he’d ever seen. Cruz said Trump’s latest comments show how "rattled" he is. But in his victory speech, Trump seemed to be radiating confidence.

"Soon the country’s going to start winning, winning, winning," Trump said Tuesday night.