Donald Trump dominated the vote Tuesday among groups where he has been strong in previous contests while staying very competitive even among voters that have given him trouble in the past, according to the NBC News Exit Poll. NBC News projected Trump the winner shortly after polls closed at 9 p.m. ET.
White voters without a college education—who accounted for nearly half of the New York GOP electorate –were at the heart of Trump’s win. About two-thirds of these voters (65 percent) went for Trump, splitting the rest of their support between rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich. But Trump prevailed easily among college-educated whites, too: He won a majority of their votes (55 percent), followed by Kasich and then Cruz.
Trump, who has staked out very conservative ground with positions on immigration, terrorism and other hot-button issues, enjoyed a landslide win among New Yorkers identifying as “very” or “somewhat” conservative. Almost two-thirds (65 percent) of these voters chose Trump; leaving Cruz and Kasich far behind. But even among the moderate and liberal New Yorkers voting in the GOP primary, Trump outperformed both of this opponents. He garnered support from 47 percent of moderate or liberal voters, while Kasich won 42 percent. Cruz trailed far behind with just 13 percent support from this group.
