Sights on Nevada in Republicans Presidential Race

Local Editor

Republican presidential candidates face off in Nevada on Tuesday in a caucus that marks the first significant test of where they stand with Hispanic voters.

Donald Trump is the man to beat as he seeks a third straight win after New Hampshire and South Carolina.

The contest comes in the fourth place for the Republican presidential candidates after Iowa, where Trump came second, and those other two states.

But it will be their first in the west of the country and is considered a crucial part of the election cycle as nearly 40 percent of the state's three-million population is Latino.

Nevada is also considered a swing state, with the state government dominated by Republicans but more Democrats registered as voters.

Trump, the billionaire businessman who has consistently held a double-digit lead in the polls, will be going into the race as frontrunner.

Several of the candidates made a final push to win over voters at the weekend, holding town hall meetings and canvassing neighborhoods.

The field of Republican candidates, which once stood at more than a dozen, has been whittled down to five. Jeb Bush was the latest to pull out of the race, on Saturday, following his poor showing in South Carolina.

Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, both Cuban-Americans, stand to gain from Bush's exit in Nevada, where he had backing from Republican Hispanic leaders.

However the two candidates face a formidable foe in Trump, who barreled to victory in South Carolina.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team