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Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday suffered a double blow as he lost badly to rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in polls in the US capital and Wyoming, an indication that the fight for securing the party's nomination was hotting up.
Looking to put a break to Trump's momentum in the race for the White House, Republican presidential candidates Senators Cruz and Rubio scored victories in the party's caucuses in Wyoming and District of Columbia respectively.
In the process, Cruz added nine delegates to his kitty and Rubio 10 as they now set their sights on the crucial Republican party's presidential primaries in the key states of Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina on March 15.
Trump, the 69-year-old real estate tycoon, is said to be the favourite at this point of time as he has the maximum umber of 460 delegates followed by Cruz (367), Rubio (153) and the Ohio Governor John Kasich 63.
To win the party's presidential nominee, the candidates need to have the support of 1,237 delegates out of a total of 2,472 delegates.
In the Republican caucus in the US capital, Rubio earned 37.3 per cent of the vote against 35.5 per cent for Ohio Governor John Kasich. Trump was third, with 13.8 per cent support. Rubio defeated Kasich by just 50 votes.
Rubio has so far won Minnesota, Puerto Rico and District of Columbia. However, he has put all at stake in his home state of Florida where the primary is scheduled for March 15. It would be very difficult for him to continue his presidential ambition with a loss in Florida.
The same is true for Kasich, who is fighting a battle for survival in the race in Ohio.
Cruz is the only Republican candidate to have defeated Trump in more than half a dozen states.
He handsomely defeated Trump in Wyoming. Cruz won nearly two-thirds of the total vote in Wyoming Caucuses. Cruz crushed Trump by winning 66.3 per cent of the ballots, far ahead of Rubio, his nearest rival, who earned 19.5 per cent of the vote. Trump came in third with a measly 7.2 per cent.
On the Democratic side, Former Secretary of State and front-runner Hillary Clinton won in the first ever Democratic Party caucus on the Northern Mariana Islands, a US possession deep in the Pacific Ocean.
She won four delegates, while her rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, won two, US media reported. Cruz also picked up one delegate in Guam while the island's five other delegates were uncommitted.
Image: US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stops speaking as a protester yells during a campaign rally at the downtown Midland Theater in Kansas City, Missouri.Photograph: Dave Kaup/Reuters