March 22--The Republican presidential race headed west on Tuesday, with two contests determining whether Donald Trump can continue to overcome the forces aimed at stopping the bombastic front-runner from clinching the GOP nomination.
After weeks of high-stakes, cross-country balloting, the day's offerings were comparatively modest.
Arizona and Utah were the only states voting, awarding a mere 98 delegates of the 1,237 needed to win the nomination ahead of the party's summer convention.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was considered the likely winner in Utah, and he hoped a strong enough victory over Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich could hand him all 40 of the state's delegates.
Trump was expected to prevail easily in Arizona, the day's biggest prize, collecting 58 delegates in its winner-take-all primary.
The main question was whether he could win 50% or more of the vote, something Trump has yet to accomplish in any of his 19 previous victories.
The state, which borders Mexico, was seemingly tailor-fit for his pugnacious position on immigration; the wall he proposes to build on America's southern border would run, in part, through Arizona's Sonoran desert.
For years, the state stood at the epicenter of efforts to stop people entering the United States illegally, passing one of the most aggressive laws in the country, and Trump campaigned with two of the leading hard-liners on the issue, former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
"So many killings, so much crime, drugs pouring through the border. ... We're going to build the wall, and we're going to stop it," Trump said to loud, sustained cheers at a weekend rally in the Phoenix suburbs. "It's going to end."
But more than any issues, the brief campaign in the state was shadowed by another outbreak of violence at a Trump rally, this time on Saturday in Tucson, where a heckler was beaten in full view of television cameras. Trump responded by praising the assailant and criticizing demonstrators and the media for, he said, distorting the coverage.
The incident seemed unlikely, however, to significantly diminish Trump's support; it hasn't in the past.
With the field shrunken to three candidates and his nomination growing increasingly likely, Trump had an opportunity to consolidate the Republican vote in a way he has not managed to this point.
Complicating matters, though, was Arizona's extended early-voting period, which began Feb. 24. Hundreds of thousands of votes were cast before the polls opened Tuesday, according to election officials, some, perhaps, for candidates -- such as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio -- who since have left the race.
Utah, with its sizable Mormon population, presented the more competitive contest and the best hope for anti-Trump forces to slow his momentum and force a contested convention this summer.
It was the rare state where the Manhattan real estate mogul was a decided underdog. His disparagement of immigrants and exclusionary talk of banning Muslims have not gone over well in a state built by newcomers fleeing religious persecution.
Then, on Friday, he questioned the religious faith of Mitt Romney, a part-time Utah resident and favorite son, during a swing through Salt Lake City. (Trump later said he was joking, but otherwise stood by his harsh criticism of the 2012 GOP nominee.)
Romney, who backed Kasich in last week's Ohio primary, said he would vote for Cruz as part of an effort to deny Trump the nomination.
"The only path that remains to nominate a Republican rather than Mr. Trump is to have an open convention," he wrote in a posting on Facebook.
"At this stage, the only way we can reach an open convention is for Senator Cruz to be successful in as many of the remaining nominating elections as possible."
The key for Cruz on Tuesday was winning at least 50% of the vote, which would entitle him to all of Utah's delegates. Failing that, the delegates will be divided proportionally, meaning Trump likely would walk away with a share and further extend his already considerable lead over Cruz and Kasich.
The Ohio governor carried his home state last week in a must-win primary and did so handily despite a strong push by Trump. But that is Kasich's one and only victory.
He campaigned hard in Utah and picked up a few meaningful endorsements, but he seemed unlikely to add to his win total on Tuesday.
mark.barabak@latimes.com
Follow @markzbarabak for national California politics
