Ted Cruz claimed an easy victory in Kansas and battled with Donald Trump for Kentucky in Saturday’s four-state round of Republican voting, fresh evidence that there’s no quick end in sight to the fractious GOP race for president. Democrats in three states were choosing between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

“God bless Kansas,” the Texas senator declared during a rally in Idaho, which votes in three days. “The scream you hear, the howl that comes from Washington D.C., is utter terror at what we the people are doing together.”

The Texas senator was leading Trump by more than a 2-to-1 margin in partial returns in Kansas caucuses. And he and Trump were in a tight race in Kentucky caucuses. Cruz, a tea party favorite, attributed his strong showing to conservatives coalescing behind his candidacy, calling it a “manifestation of a real shift in momentum.”

With the GOP race in chaos, establishment figures frantically are looking for any way to derail Trump, perhaps at a contested convention if no candidate can get enough delegates to lock up the nomination in advance. Party leaders — including 2012 nominee Mitt Romney and 2008 nominee Sen. John McCain — are fearful a Trump victory would lead to a disastrous November election, with losses up and down the GOP ticket.

“Everyone’s trying to figure out how to stop Trump,” the billionaire marveled at an afternoon rally in Orlando, Florida.

Despite the support of many elected officials in Kansas, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came up short, raising serious questions about his viability in the race. Cruz suggested it was time for other Republican candidates to step aside.

Saturday’s GOP races also included Maine and Louisiana, while Democrats voted in Nebraska, Kansas and Louisiana. With front-runner Trump yet to win states by the margins he’ll need in order to secure the nomination before the GOP convention, every one of the 155 GOP delegates at stake on Saturday was worth fighting for.

Count Wichita’s Barb Berry among those who propelled Cruz to victory in Kansas, his fifth win of the nominating race. Cruz had won Alaska, Oklahoma, Iowa and his home state of Texas.

“I believe that he is a true fighter for conservatives,” said Berry, a 67-year-old retired AT&T manager. As for Trump, Berry said, “he is a little too narcissistic.”

It was anger that propelled many of Trump’s voters to the polls.

“It’s my opportunity to revolt,” said Betty Nixon, a 60-year-old Trump voter in Olathe, Kansas. She said she liked the businessman because “he’s not bought and paid for.”

Overall, Trump had prevailed in 10 of 15 contests heading into Saturday’s voting. Rubio had one win in Minnesota.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich also bid for Republican votes. Rubio and Kasich both pinned their hopes on winner-take-all contests on March 15 in their home states.

On the Democratic side, Clinton hoped that strong support among African Americans in Louisiana would propel her to victory. Vermonter Sanders, trailing far behind Clinton in the delegate count, had higher hopes of making progress in Nebraska and Kansas, where the Democratic electorate is less diverse.

Tara Evans, a 52-year-old quilt maker from Bellevue, Nebraska, said she was caucusing for Clinton, and happy to know that the former first lady could bring her husband back to the White House.

“We’d be getting two for the price of one,” she said. “I like Bernie, but I think Hillary had the best chance of winning.”

Heading into Saturday’s round of voting, Clinton had 1,066 delegates to Sanders’ 432, including superdelegates — members of Congress, governors and party officials who can support the candidate of their choice. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination. There were 109 at stake on Saturday.

Seeking some traction, Rubio denounced Trump as a fraud and a “con artist.”

“It’s not enough to say, ‘Vote for me because I am angrier and over the top and am going to do and say things no one is going to do,'” he told conservatives at a conference outside Washington.

Trump, intent on denying Rubio a crucial Florida win, had the thousands at his Orlando rally swear to give him their ballots.

With early voting already under way in the state, Trump exhorted them: “Do it now. Do it today. Do it tomorrow.”

Cruz will collect at least 17 delegates for winning the Republican caucuses in Kansas, and Trump will win at least six.

In the overall race for delegates, including partial results for Kansas, Trump led with 335 and Cruz had 248. Rubio had 110 delegates and Kasich had 25.

It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president.

(AP)