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 On the Democratic side, favorite Hillary Clinton routed challenger
Bernie Sanders in Arizona to stretch her advantage in the race for
her party's presidential nomination.
Sanders, however, won contests in Utah and Idaho to bolster his case
that he still has a chance despite Clinton's big lead.
The nominating battles in Arizona and Utah, plus the Democratic
contest in Idaho, were overshadowed by attacks in Brussels in which
at least 30 people were killed and raised security concerns among
U.S. voters.
Trump helped himself in Arizona with a hardline anti-immigration
message and tough talk on Islamic militants to easily defeat Cruz, a
U.S. senator from Texas, and Ohio Governor John Kasich.
Trump had the backing in Arizona of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe
Arpaio, one of the most prominent supporters of a crackdown on
illegal immigrants.
 The win furthered Trump's argument that he will eventually win the
Republican presidential nomination and that the party should rally
around him. He won all of Arizona's 58 delegates.
"Much bigger win than anticipated in Arizona. Thank you, I will
never forget!" Trump said on Twitter. "Hopefully the Republican
Party can come together and have a big WIN in November, paving the
way for many great Supreme Court Justices!"
Cruz, though, won big in Utah's caucuses, giving hope to those
Republicans who fear Trump's proposal to deport 11 million illegal
immigrants and build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico would
guarantee a Democratic victory in the Nov. 8 election.
Cruz appeared to be on track to win all of Utah's 40 Republican
delegates. Since the state's 40 delegates are awarded proportionate
to the popular vote, he needed to win at least 50 percent of the
vote to take all the delegates.
He appeared to benefit from Mormons who dominate the Republican vote
in Utah. They did not take kindly to a Trump attack on native son
Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee who has led the anti-Trump
opposition.
Trump had questioned whether Romney, an elder in the Mormon church,
was really a Mormon.
"Trump's poor showing in Utah is a reminder that while many love his
glib comments, those remarks can also have a downside. Questioning
Mitt Romney's faith is something that was sure to backfire in Utah,"
said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy
Institute at Southern Illinois University.
Clinton seized on the Brussels attacks to argue that neither Trump
nor Cruz can be trusted to lead the fight against Islamic State
militants.
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Trump has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United
States and Cruz said he would send police patrols into Muslim
neighborhoods in the United States.
"This is a time for America to lead, not cower," Clinton told
supporters in Seattle in a victory speech.
Sanders said his Utah and Idaho victories were powered by young
people and working-class Americans who support his "political
revolution."
"These decisive victories in Idaho and Utah give me confidence that
we will continue to win major victories in the coming contests," he
said.
Trump is trying to beat back efforts to deny him the nomination. His
opponents want to stop him from securing the 1,237 delegates needed
ahead of the July convention. Trump now has 678 delegates.
"I think it is going to be very hard for them to do," Trump said on
CNN of any effort to deny him the nomination if he falls short. "I
have millions of votes more than anybody."
Sanders is looking for wins in many of the six Democratic contests
this week. Alaska, Hawaii and Washington will vote on Saturday.
Clinton will keep adding to her delegate total even if she is not
the winner in a given state because Democratic delegates are awarded
proportionally in all states.
Tuesday's Republican contests were the first since U.S. Senator
Marco Rubio of Florida dropped out a week ago after Trump drubbed
him in his home state.
Kasich is the only other candidate still in the race, splitting the
anti-Trump vote with Cruz.
(Additional reporting by Alana Wise, Emily Stephenson and Eric Beech
in Washington and Luciana Lopez in New York; Editing by Leslie
Adler, Paul Tait)
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