DEVELOPING: – Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz won the Kansas Republican Caucus on Saturday, the Associated Press projects.
"God bless Kansas," Cruz declared during a rally in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. "The scream you hear, the howl that comes from Washington D.C., is utter terror at what we the people are doing together."
He was leading front-ruer Donald Trump by more than a 2-to-1 margin with roughly 97 percent of precints reporting. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was in third and Ohio Gov. John Kasich was in fourth, according to the Associated Press.
Forty delegates are at stake in Kansas.
Cruz attributed his strong showing to conservative coalescing behind his candidacy. He has now won five primaries or caucuses, compared to 10 for Trump, one Rubio and zero for Kasich.
Five states on Saturday are holding either a primary or caucus, with rivals trying to slow Trump and Hillary Clinton, the Republican and Democratic front-ruers, as they try to win their respective party’s presidential nomination.
Kansas held a Republican and Democratic caucus. Kentucky is holding a GOP caucus. Maine is holding a Republican caucus. Nebraska is holding a Democratic caucus. And Louisiana is hold a primary for both parties.
Trump has a small but steady lead over Cruz in Kentucky's Republican caucus. The billionaire businessman had more than 34 percent of the vote in early retus, with Cruz close behind with 31 percent. Rubio was third with 17 percent.
Trump also has a single-digit lead over Cruz in Maine, with just 11 percent of precints reporting, according to the Associated Press.
Maine Democrats caucus on Sunday, while voters in both parties go to the polls in the Puerto Rico primary.
Cruz on Saturday also scored what amounts to a moral victory, wiing the backing of conservatives attending the aual CPAC convention.
He is also hoping to do well Saturday in the Kentucky and Maine caucuses, and the Louisiana primary. A good showing would help him secure his position as the No. 2 GOP candidate ahead of Rubio. But neither appears to have a path toward wiing enough delegates or the nomination.
"Being a conservative caot just be about how loud you're willing to scream ... or about how many names you call people," Rubio said Saturday at CPAC.
Vermont Sen. Beie Sanders, Clinton’s only primary competitor, is favored to win the Kansas and Nebraska caucuses.
Clinton’s campaign manager braced supporters for the potential setback in a memo Wednesday that suggested the former secretary of state may lose the caucus states this weekend.
“Sen. Sanders has clear advantages and is investing heavily in two upcoming caucuses (Kansas and Nebraska),” Robby Mook wrote in a memo.
Tuout was heavy at many sites for the Kansas Democratic caucuses Saturday.
Supporters of Vermont Sen. Beie Sanders lined the streets outside Liberty Memorial Central Middle School in Lawrence, a crowd much larger than had tued out for Clinton there.
Though Clinton is the choice of former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and other state party establishment figures, she faced a surge of new voters and energized progressives supporting Sanders.
In total Saturday, 109 Democratic delegates are up for grabs, while Republicans are competing for 155.
Clinton leads Sanders 1,066 to 432 in the delegate race. Either needs 4,763 to win the party nomination.
On the Republican side, Trump leads with 329 delegates, followed by 231 for Cruz, 110 for Rubio and 25 for Kasich. The GOP canidate needs 2,472 to win the nomination, with increasing talk, particularly within the GOP establishment, about having a so-called “broker convention” to stop Trump’s insurgent candidacy.
Republican candidate Ben Carson, meanwhile, suspended his campaign on Friday.
"We are going to make America great again," Trump said at a rally Saturday afteoon in Wichita, Kansas, sticking with his signature campaign slogan.
He also tried to appeal to heart land voters with his so-far wining message of building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, restoring America's military might and repealing and replacing ObamaCare.
"You premiums are going up like a rocket ship," Trump said to cheers from the packed rally."
Trump late went to north Orlando, Florida, for a rally ahead of the state’s March 15 wier-take-all primary that is considered a must-win for Rubio. A win in Florida and Ohio, another take-all March 15 primary, would be a huge step toward Trump wiing the nomination.
On Friday, Trump pulled out of CPAC. Trump had been scheduled to speak at the four-day gathering but said he would be campaigning instead in Kansas and Florida. Florida holds its primaries on March 15.
CPAC organizers suggested they cancelled Trump’s appearance because he wouldn't take questions, a format all invited candidates were asked to follow.
“Guess what, tomorrow is an election,” a Trump spokeswoman said Friday, giving her explanation about why the candidate won’t attend the event.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.