Donald Trump had a good night this Super Tuesday but the fault lines dividing the GOP electorate are still clearly visible.
Ted Cruz pulled out a win tonight in his home state of Texas and in neighboring Oklahoma, but lost narrowly to Trump in Arkansas. A large share of both Cruz supporters and Trump supporters in Texas describe themselves as conservative and favor the idea of building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. But fully seven in 10 Cruz supporters say they would be dissatisfied if Trump ultimately becomes the party nominee. Just one in four Cruz voters would be satisfied with Trump as the party nominee.
That discontent appears unique to Trump’s candidacy. About two-thirds of Cruz supporters in Texas say they would be satisfied if Marco Rubio is the nominee.
By comparison, Trump’s Texas voters appear less opposed to the idea of a Cruz nomination. Fully 45 percent of Trump’s voters in Texas say they would be satisfied and just over half — at 53 percent — say they would be dissatisfied should Cruz be the Republican nominee.
But this appears to be largely a Texas phenomenon: Elsewhere, Trump voters aren’t very open to a Cruz nomination. For example, among Trump voters in Arkansas, where Cruz finished close behind Donald Trump overall, just 29 percent say they would be satisfied if Cruz becomes the party nominee. In Virginia, about the same number — 29 percent — of Trump voters would be satisfied with Cruz as the party’s nominee.
This story has been updated with final exit polling data.
