Super Saturday Live Updates 2016: Caucus And Primary Results From Kansas, Louisiana And Other States

UPDATE: 11:10 p.m. EST — Donald Trump urged Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to drop out of the 2016 race and dismissed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's night of victories in a speech to supporters Saturday as his first-place standing in the Republican primary race took a beating. Commenting on Cruz's win in Maine, Trump reminded voters the senator had been born in Canada, not the U.S. “He should do well in Maine, because it's very close to Canada. Let's face it,” Trump said.

UPDATE: 10:55 p.m. EST — Donald Trump is the projected winner of Kentucky's Republican presidential caucuses, the Associated Press and CNN reported. It was a heated race for Trump against Texas Sen. Ted Cruz after GOP elites urged voters this week to keep the business mogul out of the White House.

UPDATE: 10:50 p.m. EST — With 63 pecent of the vote in, Republican business mogul Donald Trump is winning the Kentucky Republican caucus with 35 percent of the vote. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has 31 percent of the vote and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has 17 percent of the vote. The race remained too close to call.

UPDATE: 10:15 p.m. EST — With 44 pecent of the vote in, Republican business mogul Donald Trump is leading the Kentucky Republican caucus with 38 percent of the vote, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has 32 percent of the vote. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has 14 percent of the vote.

UPDATE: 9:50 p.m. EST — After winning the Democratic primary in Louisiana, Hillary Clinton urged Democrats Saturday to bring more followers to the party and reach out to young people. She spoke in Michigan ahead of its primary Tuesday after Sen. Bernie Sanders won the Democratic caucuses in Kansas and Nebraska.

“The Republicans like to divide us ... You are proving when we work together, we can rise together,” Clinton said. “I am thrilled we’re adding to our pledged delegate count, I’m greatful for everyone who turned out to support us, but now all eyes to turn to Michigan.”

UPDATE: 9:35 p.m. EST — Business mogul Donald Trump is the projected winner in the Louisiana Republican presidential primary. It's unclear how many of Louisiana's 46 delegates he will win against his major rivals, Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida.

UPDATE: 9:20 p.m. EST — The Associated Press and other news outlets named Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton the winner of the Louisiana primary as she was speaking in Michigan Saturday night. Clinton had about 72 percent of the vote to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' 21 percent, according to the Washington Post.

UPDATE: 9:08 p.m. EST — NBC called Nebraska's Democratic caucus for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders Saturday night. With about three-fourths of the state reporting results, Sanders had about 55 percent of the vote to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 45 percent, according to the Washington Post.

UPDATE: 8:53 p.m. EST — The Maine Republican Party announced that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, won the state's GOP caucus Saturday. Cruz garnered about 46 percent of the vote, capturing 12 delegates. Mogul Donald Trump came in second place and received nine delegates, while Ohio Gov. John Kasich got two.

“This has been and is a watershed day in Maine Republican history,” talk show host Mike Violette said at a news conference before the results were announced.

UPDATE: 8:35 p.m. EST — CNN and NBC called the Kansas Democratic caucus Saturday for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders after an announcement from the state party.

Sanders' national press secretary, Symone Sanders, tweeted about the victory immediately:

UPDATE: 8:16 p.m. EST — Democrats in Nebraska turned out in large numbers to caucus Saturday night. Some locations had more than 1,000 registrants, 1011 Now reported.

With about 5 percent of precincts reporting results, Decision Desk HQ had Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the lead in the Cornhusker State with about 60 percent of the vote.

UPDATE: 7:47 p.m. EST — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had an early, narrow lead over rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the GOP's Kentucky caucus Saturday. With about 8 percent of precincts reporting results, Trump had about 40 percent of the vote to Cruz's 33.

Cruz beat Trump earlier in the night in Kansas, according to the Washington Post. He was also winning in Maine, where about 9 percent of results were in and the senator had 43 percent of the vote to Trump's 37.

UPDATE: 7:27 p.m. EST — Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was “having a bad night” Saturday, according to both FiveThirtyEight editor-in-chief Nate Silver and various caucus results. Rubio came in third place in the Kansas caucus with about 17 percent of the vote and was trailing behind billionaire Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in Kentucky as well. The other states holding contests for Super Saturday hadn't reported votes yet.

Rubio, viewed as the GOP establishment candidate, has recently been focusing his efforts on Florida. The Sunshine State, worth 99 delegates, will vote March 15.

UPDATE: 7:13 p.m. EST — As various states continued to caucus and vote for presidential nominees Saturday, Ohio Gov. John Kasich's campaign fired its deputy digital director. Blake Waggoner was forced to leave Kasich's camp after the Cincinnati Enquirer reported he was arrested in November for domestic abuse, Politico reported.

Waggoner pleaded not guilty after a woman accused him of choking and punching her, according to the Enquirer. He later reportedly reversed his plea to participate in a program that clears his record in exchange for fulfilling certain requirements.

“Obviously, this kind of behavior is abhorrent and completely unacceptable,” Kasich campaign manager Beth Hansen told the outlet, adding that Waggoner had been terminated.

UPDATE: 6:30 p.m. EST — Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was set to get 17 delegates to the Republican National Convention after he won the GOP caucus in Kansas Saturday, the Washington Post reported. With three-fourths of results reported, Cruz had just over 50 percent of the vote. Tycoon Donald Trump had 24 percent and was on track to receive six delegates.

Cruz also maintained his lead in Maine, though only 5 percent of precincts had reported results. The other Super Tuesday states — Nebraska, Louisiana and Kentucky — hadn't finished caucusing, voting or counting as of about 6:30 p.m. EST.

UPDATE: 5:54 p.m. EST — NBC News and the Associated Press named Texas Sen. Ted Cruz the winner of the Kansas Republican caucus Saturday night. Media outlets hadn't yet called Maine's caucus, but Cruz was in the No. 1 spot with about 5 percent of precincts reporting.

The senator was already celebrating at a campaign event in Idaho. “God bless the great state of Kansas,” Cruz said. “And God bless Maine.”

UPDATE: 5:31 p.m. EST — As results started to roll in from the five states participating in Super Saturday, the Conservative Political Action Conference announced Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, came in first in the straw poll. Cruz got 40 percent of the vote, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, according to NBC News.

The conference, hosted by the American Conservative Union and nicknamed CPAC, is an event for GOP activists and public officials. Its straw poll is seen as an indicator of Republican voters' views.

Cruz also appeared to be winning in the GOP's Kansas caucus. With about 49 percent of the precincts reporting results, Cruz had 49 percent of the vote. Billionaire Donald Trump was in second place with 25 percent.

Both Trump and Cruz spent their mornings in the Sunflower State, which saw long lines and high turnout, the Kansas City Star reported.

The Democratic caucus there started at 4 p.m. EST.

UPDATE: 5:06 p.m. EST — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had an early lead in Maine Saturday afternoon. With about 5 percent of the results in, Cruz had 48 percent of the vote, according to the Washington Post.

Cruz was also leading in Kansas. With about a third of precincts reporting results, he had about 50 percent of the vote. Businessman Donald Trump had about 25 percent.

UPDATE: 4:35 p.m. EST — Decision Desk HQ called the Kansas Republican caucus for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz Saturday afternoon. With about 18 percent of districts reporting results, Cruz had about 49 percent of the vote, according to the Washington Post. Billionaire Donald Trump was in second place with about 26 percent of the vote.

Original story: It may be the weekend, but the presidential candidates aren't taking any time off. In five states — Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska and Maine — voters are caucusing and voting Saturday for their party favorites.

Democratic and Republican politicians are fighting over 156 and 178 delegates, respectively, according to ABC News. With a narrowing candidate field and the conventions quickly approaching, several presidential hopefuls are aiming for big gains on Super Saturday.

In the GOP, real estate mogul Donald Trump continued to lead the polls, with 43 percent support nationwide, according to the HuffPost Pollster. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came in second with about 19 percent, followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with about 17 percent. In fourth — and last — place was Ohio Gov. John Kasich with the backing of 7 percent of conservative voters.

On the Democratic side, the gap between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders continued to shrink. Clinton was polling at about 53 percent to Sanders' 38 percent.

Trump and Clinton also had the most delegates heading into Saturday. Each won seven states on Super Tuesday this week.

Saturday's lineup includes Democratic caucuses and Republican caucuses in Kansas, Republican caucuses in Kentucky, primaries for both parties in Louisiana, Republican caucuses in Maine and Democratic caucuses in Nebraska, according to CBS.

Check back for updates.