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Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton win Tennessee

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton swept to victory in Tennessee on Tuesday.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton swept to victory in Tennessee on Tuesday.

Trump won Tennessee’s Republican primary, while Clinton easily defeated rival Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary.

The win for Trump in Tennessee comes despite frantic last-minute efforts from the state’s GOP establishment to try to stop his rise by unifying behind Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Haslam and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., each endorsed Rubio over the past week and campaigned alongside him Monday in Knoxville. 

Rubio was trailing in third place in the Republican race, behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Ohio Gov. John Kasich trailed the pack. In Tennessee, 58 delegates were at stake Tuesday, the third most among Tuesday’s Republican contests.

Trump, speaking before supporters at Palm Beach, Fla., went right after Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, arguing she’s been in positions of power for years but hasn’t fixed the country’s woes.

“She wants to make American ‘whole again,' ” Trump said. “And I’m thinking, what is that all about? ‘Make America great again’ is going to be much better than ‘Make America whole again.’ ”

Meanwhile, Clinton and Sanders, a Vermont senator, were competing for their share of Tennessee’s 76 delegates, the sixth most among Democratic primaries held Tuesday.

Clinton also saw significant victories in places such as Virginia and Texas, key states that would help catapult her toward the Democratic nomination. 

"Now this campaign moves forward to the Crescent City, to the Motor City and beyond," Clinton said at a rally in Miami. "We're going to work for every vote." 

The two Democrats have had vastly different approaches in Tennessee, with the former U.S. secretary of state launching an aggressive TV and radio blitz in recent weeks. She has visited the state twice since announcing her candidacy, including making campaign stops in Memphis and Nashville on Sunday. Former President Bill Clinton also campaigned for his wife in Memphis last month.

Meanwhile, the 74-year-old Sanders, who calls himself a Democratic socialist, bucked the trend of last-minute visits by presidential candidates to the Volunteer State. Instead, he opted to focus his time campaigning in states such as Minnesota and Oklahoma. He won Oklahoma and Vermont. Sanders' approach in Tennessee did not include any appearances and he declined to run television ads. 

Even before Tennessee's polls closed, Sanders sought to shift attention away from Clinton's big night and toward the 35 states that still need to vote. 

"Let me assure you, we are going to take our fight for economic justice, for social justice, for environmental sanity, for a world of peace to every one of those states," he said while speaking at an event in Vermont. Sanders assured the audience he would win hundreds of delegates on Tuesday.

Back in the GOP race, the polarizing Trump, who entered Super Tuesday on a three-state win streak, has campaigned on a populist message fueled by anger over the direction President Barack Obama has taken the nation. He’s sought to take on “political correctness” at every turn and has deployed a nationalist tone, promising to build a wall between the border of the United States and Mexico and institute a ban on Muslims from entering the country. 

After not aggressively challenging Trump for much of the campaign, Rubio and Cruz waged spirited attacks on Trump over the past week in recognition of his inside track to the nomination. Cruz has called into question Trump’s conservative credentials, while Rubio has repeatedly referred to the party’s front-runner as a “con man.”

Tennessee experienced strong voter turnout on Tuesday. In some places, voters waited two hours to cast ballots.

TRIM FOR LEAF AND DNJ PRINT With a Starbucks coffee in hand, Nashville resident Floyd DePalma, 49, was first in line to vote downtown at the Nashville Public Library precinct.

DePalma, who runs a software company downtown and said he was voting for Cruz, arrived around 6:50 a.m. and was surprised when one of his employees, 30-year-old Scott Carothers, walked up behind him.

"We talked about coming to vote yesterday. I didn't expect to be first and second in line,” DePalma said. “My employees all come in at 9 (a.m.). I just wanted to get voting over with and start the day.” 

By afternoon, as spitting rain fell across much of the state, a slow but steady stream of voters poured into the parking lot of the First Baptist Church in Nashville.

A poll worker at the voting station inside said more voters had already come to the location than was expected and more voters continued to park at the church and walk inside.

Among those who spoke to The Tennessean, many suspected the state would see an impressive Super Tuesday turnout, if for no other reason than this year’s primary has offered voters a striking contrast in personalities and viewpoints, some of which many have found either offensive or convincing enough for them to deem a primary vote necessary.

“I guess this is the first time in my voting life when a primary has seemed so significant,” said Caroline Huddleston, a conservative voter from Hermitage who said she and her like-minded friends have been befuddled by this year’s field of candidates. “I think most of my friends are conflicted. I think a lot of my conservative friends usually know who we want to vote for, but this year we just know we don’t want Donald Trump.”

Clad in a black leather biker jacket, Danny Womack, a voter with a firm handshake, clad in a black leather biker jacket felt just as passionate about this year’s primaries, but his emotions came from the opposite end of the spectrum.

Womack said he was persuaded months ago by what has become the core tenants tenets of Trump’s campaign.

“I have tried your typical politician, and it doesn’t work,” he said. “With Trump, you have to take him as he is, and he doesn’t really need anybody’s money. He’s proven that.” 

Natalie Neysa Alund and Jordan Buie contributed to this report. 

 

As the rain started to pour down a bit harder, two other voters exited the polls. Having arrived at the wrong location, they were redirected to their proper voting locations.

Nashville resident Floyd DePalma said he didn't expect to be number one Tuesday morning, but he was.

With a Starbucks coffee in hand, DePalma, 49, was first in line to vote downtown at the Nashville Public Library precinct and joined thousands of residents who flocked to the polls across Tennessee for Super Tuesday. Voters in 12 other states will also pick their candidates for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations. 

When the polls opened at 7 a.m., just over a dozen people stood in line behind DePalma. Polls close at 7 p.m. Visit The Tennessean after the polls close for interactive county-by-county results. 

DePalma, who runs a software company downtown and said he was voting for Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz,said he arrived at the downtown precinct around 6:50 a.m. and was surprised when one of his employees, 30-year-old Scott Carothers, walked up behind him.

"We talked about coming to vote yesterday. I didn't expect to be first and second in line. My employees all come in at nine (a.m.) I just wanted to get voting over with and start the day," DePalma said. 

Carothers, who recently moved to Nashville from California, experienced a small snafu Tuesday morning when he realized he was still registered to vote there.

"I forgot I was registered in California when we went in there but Floyd got me this beautiful 'I voted' sticker."

DePalma quipped, "I wanted him to feel good. I thought he could get an 'I tried' sticker."

"That's only when you give blood though," Carothers said laughing.

Behind them in line stood 25-year-old Charles Field.

"I came straight from the gym. I plan to vote then head to work. I'm voting for Clinton because I think she has the most experience to get the job done."

Across town, more than 20 people snaked through the halls of West Meade Elementary School this morning to be the first to vote when polls opened. The line continued to grow as glitches with the printers initially slowed the progress of checking in voters.

Outside, Kate Archer and Michael Lovett, who have lived in the area for about five years, said turnout didn't seem as heavy as it did for the mayoral race, but acknowledged that it was still early in the morning.

"I hope it gets busy and stays that way, all day" says Lovett. "People just need to come out and vote."

David Troutman voted at W.A. Wright Elementary in Wilson County where a steady crowd of around 20 continued coming through during the initial morning hours, which election officials said was typical at a number of precincts in the county.

“Because the country is going in the wrong direction and we’ve got to pull it back,” Troutman said of Super Tuesday's importance he feels about Super Tuesday

As spitting rain fell over Hermitage Tuesday afternoon, a slow but steady stream of voters poured into the parking lot of the First Baptist Church at 3832 Central Pike.

A poll worker at the voting station inside said more voters had already come to the location than was expected and more voters continued to park at the church and walk inside.

Among those who spoke to The Tennessean, many suspected the state would see an impressive Super Tuesday turnout, if for no other reason than this year’s primary has offered voters a striking contrast in personalities and viewpoints, some of which many have found either offensive or convincing enough for them to deem a primary vote necessary.

“I guess this is the first time in my voting life when a primary has seemed so significant,” said Caroline Huddleston, a conservative voter from Hermitage who said she and her like-minded friends have been befuddled by this year’s field of candidates. “I think most of my friends are conflicted. I think a lot of my conservative friends usually know who we want to vote for, but this year we just know we don’t want Donald Trump.”

Danny Womack, a voter with a firm handshake, clad in a black leather biker jacket felt just as passionate about this year’s primaries, but his emotions came from the opposite end of the spectrum.

Womack said he was persuaded months ago by what has become the core tenants of Trump’s campaign.

“I have tried your typical politician, and it doesn’t work,” he said. “With Trump, you have to take him as he is, and he doesn’t really need anybody’s money. He’s proven that.”

As the rain started to pour down a bit harder, two other voters exited the polls. Having arrived at the wrong location, they were redirected to their proper voting locations.

Ashley Siebert was redirected to Andrew Jackson Elementary School located a few miles away.

“You know this isn’t my first time to vote, but I feel like these kinds of things would deter first time voters and keep them from going on voting,” she said. “I hope that eventually the process will become more streamlined.”

Super Tuesday voting

Super Tuesday primaries are the biggest test for hopefuls so far and can make or break candidates. More delegates are at stake on this day than on any other day. 

In the end, Tennessee’s 58 Republican presidential delegates will be awarded proportionately to candidates based on their performance in the primary. The same goes for the state's 67 Democratic delegates.

Shortly after the polls opened,  Cora Howe School — a polling location in East Nashville — was placed on lockdown for a short stint while police searched for a juvenile shooting suspect in the area.

 

 

Voters in various parts of Sumner County reported technology issues at polling sites for voting in Tuesday's presidential preference primary and two local primary races.

Gallatin High had some technology issues early Tuesday. One printer went down and poll workers had to fix glitches with some machines before they could be used, said voter Bill Hudgins, who arrived at the site around 8 a.m.

Patricia Walker, the election officer the Gallatin High precinct, said the issue was resolved quickly.

When asked if any of the precincts were experiencing difficulties, Election Deputy Cheri Tatum said twice, "all of the precincts are up and running."

Election Administrator Lori Atchley was too busy to speak with a reporter, according to Tatum.

At J.W. Wiseman Elementary in Portland, lines were beginning to get long around 9 a.m. and poll workers appeared to be having trouble getting voters signed in.

Wait times have exceeded 90 minutes at some sites, such as Goodlettsville Church of the Nazarene, voters said. Delays were also reported in White House.

As of late morning, the polls and phones had been extremely busy, but so far no major snafus had been reported across the state, said Adam Ghassemi, spokesman for Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett.

 

Many Tennessean residents — more than 385,000 — have already voted early.

Early voting ran from Feb. 10 to Feb. 23 and saw 385,653 Tennesseans cast ballots, a 17.1 percent increase over the 2008 primaries in Tennessee — the most recent open primary for both parties — in which 329,154 people voted early or absentee.

 

Residents must bring a valid federal or Tennessee state government-issued photo ID to the poll to vote.

Visit The Tennessean's election page for updates and check back after the polls close for complete results.

For more information on voting across Tennessee, visit sos.tn.gov/elections

Click here to find out where to vote in Davidson County. Find your county's election commission here. Check your registration status here

 

Reporters Jim Myers and Andy Humbles contributed to this report. Reach Natalie Neysa Alund at 615-259-8072. Follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

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