
Marco Rubio predicted for the first time on Wednesday that he will win the Republican primary election next month in his home state of Florida and said he can still snatch the presidential nomination from Donald Trump – despite finishing far behind the real estate mogul in Tuesday's Nevada caucuses.

The Florida senator's promise came despite polls that show him running a distant third place in the Sunshine State, and failing to lead anywhere except Utah.

'We'll win in Florida. Now that Gov. Bush is no longer in the race, and him and I split up a lot of the support in Florida. That will help us,' he boasted on 'CBS This Morning.'

Jeb Bush, Florida's former governor, dropped out of the race on Saturday after posting a disappointing finish in South Carolina.

Trump claimed in his Tuesday night victory speech following a strong victory in Nevada's GOP caucuses that he could have the Republican presidential nomination sewn up in under two months.

He won with 45.9 per cent of the vote, ahead of Rubio's 23.8 per cent and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's 21.3 per cent.

Trump is also far ahead in the most recent Florida poll, a CBS News/YouGov survey that put him in first place with 41 per cent of the vote. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is in second place there with 22 per cent, and Rubio has just 18 per cent.

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Whistling past the graveyard? Marco Rubio says he can catch Donald Trump in the Republican presidential race

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Trump (center, flanked by sons Don Jr. and Eric) delivered his victory speech after he secured the Nevada caucuses with a huge plurality

'We weren't expected to win this one, we weren't expected to win too much at all – and now we're winning the whole country,' Trump roared

Specifics, please: 'Anger alone is not going to solve our problems. You also have to know what you're going to do about it,' Rubio told ABC's morning audience about Trump

Bush was far back in the pack with 4 per cent before his exit. Even if all of his support were to swing to Rubio in Florida, Trump would still win in a landslide if no one else gets out of the race.

'I've spoken to Gov. Bush,' Rubio said on CBS. 'We haven't discussed an endorsement. We're friends, and I look forward to visiting with him soon.'

But 'this race needs to continue to narrow,' he insisted after a campaign stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

'Because Donald Trump – for example, he underperformed Mitt Romney yesterday in Nevada. Four years ago Mitt Romney got over 50 per cent of the vote there.'

That's almost accurate.

In 2012 Romney won the Nevada caucuses with 16,486 votes. Trump prevailed on Tuesday with 34,531.

But Rubio insisted that the result 'shows there's a significant number of Republicans, even in Nevada, who do not want Donald Trump to be their nominee. But right now it's divided up among four people.'

He said ultimately he will catch up to the billionaire real estate magnate on March 15 and beyond, when primary elections become winner-take-all affairs instead of awarding Republican National Convention delegates on a percentage basis.

'I think it's important to take a deep breath here,' Rubio said.

'First of all, the Republican nomination is decided by delegates. It's over 1200 delegates you need to have. We're nowhere even near that number of people that have yet even been involved, much less being able to win them.'

Trump's three victories in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, combined with his second-place finish in Iowa, have netted him 81 delegates so far.

Rubio and Cruz each have 17.

'He does have a delegate advantage, but it's not overwhelming,' Rubio explained. 'In fact there are plenty of states out there in the winner-take-all category, that if you win 'em, you more than catch up.'

The last optimist: Rubio says he'll collect Jeb Bush's support in Florida – all 4 per cent of the vote

On 'Fox & Friends,' Rubio said that 'the majority of Republican voters in this country do not want Donald Trump to be the nominee. I think that is pretty clear now.'

'I'm as conservative as everyone in this race, but I am the conservative that can unify the Republican Party,' he insisted.

'We feel good about our showing' in Nevada, Rubio said on ABC's 'Good Morning America,' pledging that he won't go negative against Trump unless he's provoked.

'I know that there's this craving in the media for people to attack each other, but I've never been a campaign that attacks people,' he said.

But he criticized the billionaire for being long on promises and short on substance.

'Anger alone is not going to solve our problems. You also have to know what you're going to do about it,' Rubio told ABC's morning audience.

'And I think if you're running for president voters deserve to know exactly what you're going to do, and Donald hasn't outlined what he's going to do on any issue. He tells us what the result is going to be, but he refuses to tell us how it's going to happen.'

Tuesday's convincing majority is a huge boost for Trump, who is looking increasingly unstoppable in the race to secure the Republican presidential nomination.

'Well, I hope so. We certainly have an advantage,' he said Wednesday on ABC. 'It was a great night. It was a great day. We're looking pretty good, by any standard.'

The triumphant tycoon wasn't ready to declare himself the winner of the GOP contest and announce a running mate, though. 'Too early ... you'll be one of the first to know,' he said.

Trump has impressive poll numbers in primary states approaching over the next two weeks. At a victory rally on Tuesday night, with his sons Donald Jr. and Eric by his side, he told a cheering crowd: 'We weren't expected to win this one, we weren't expected to win too much at all – and now we're winning the whole country.'

Victorious: Such a large majority is a huge boost for Trump, who is looking increasingly unstoppable in the race to secure the Republican presidential nomination

A family affair: In his victory speech, Trump thanked his family for their support and gave a special shout to Eric (right) and his 'elegant speeches'

Trump has dominated: Supporters celebrate as television networks declare him the winner of the Nevada Republican caucuses

The latest national poll puts him 17 points ahead of Ted Cruz, and The Donald promised: 'Soon the country will start winning, winning, winning.'

'Some great numbers – It's going to be an amazing two months. We might not even need the two months.'

'When people drop out, we get a lot of votes,' he said, referring to how the Republican candidates have dwindled down to five. Trump also boasted about being ahead of Ohio Gov. John Kasich in polls for that state's March 15 primary.

'And we've had some great numbers coming out of Texas, and amazing numbers coming out of Tennessee and Georgia and Arkansas and then in a couple of weeks later Florida. We're going to do very well in Ohio. We're beating the governor. It's always nice to be beating the governor.'

Trump continued: 'I grab, I am greedy, I want money. But now I'm going to be greedy for the U.S. I'm going to grab and grab for the U.S. and make America great again.'

He also noted how he is managing to clinch a wide demographic of voters: 'Evangelicals, the young, the old, the highly educated, the poorly educated.'

'I love the poorly educated.'

'And I got 46 per cent of the Hispanic voters – I'm really happy about that,' he said.

Trump reprised his well-worn refrain about 'building a wall' on America's southern border with Mexico.

He has campaigned on a hard-line immigration platform, and got into trouble with the Pope last week as the Pontiff suggested his views made him 'not a Christian.'

His opponents have also dinged him over a lack of specifics for several of his policy proposals, including how he'd build the wall and reform the system.

'I've been very specific,' he said this morning on GMA. 'I'm a very specific person.'

Say cheese: The republican presidential candidate takes a selfie earlier in the night with a supporter at a Las Vegas caucus site

A long wait: Ballot shortages had been reported across a number of sites as turn out far exceeded what was predicted. Voters described the scenes as 'overwhelming' and 'very disorganized'

Trump's victory in Nevada is his third consecutive win following successes in the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries.

It's also his first win in a caucus state.

Political commentators note that the Nevada win reflects how Trump is managing to clinch every demographic of voter, including even the Hispanic population, who comprise a far larger proportion of voters there than in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Cruz and Rubio, being of Cuban descent, were expected to perform better than Trump in that demographic.

Cruz said Tuesday night that his lone victory in Iowa still puts him in the nomination picture.

'History teaches us that nobody has ever won the nomination without winning the at least one of the first three primaries – and there are only two people who have done this: Donald Trump and us,' he said.

'The only campaign that can beat Donald Trump is this one. And anyone – the other 65 per cent – who doesn't think Donald is best candidate to go head to head with Hillary should vote for us.'

Thumbs up: Trump looks confident on the night of voting as he mingles with voters at Palo Verde High School in Las Vegas

Adoring fan: Trump signs the hand of a female supporter on caucus night as he won 45.91 per cent of the Republican vote in Nevada

The result comes after an unexpectedly high turnout caused voting chaos across the state, as reports came in of ballot shortages and identifications going unchecked.

Jeremy Hughes, a Nevada strategist for Marco Rubio, told CNN that at his site many volunteers had failed to check voters' IDs, and some individuals were reported to be casting multiple ballots.

Elsewhere, Nevada reporter Karen Castro tweeted that one site had ran out of ballots, which left caucus-goers waiting for a resupply.

Ballot shortages had been reported across a number of sites as turnout far exceeded what was predicted.

Voters at Valley High School in Las Vegas described the scenes as 'overwhelming' and 'very disorganized.'

One GOP official told veteran Nevada reporter Jon Ralston: 'We take reports of double voting very seriously. There is a master sign sheet and that we will be checking very closely.'

Nevada has a history of poor caucus turnouts. In 2012 only seven per cent of the state's population came to party caucuses.

The state is the fourth to elect delegates to the Republican National Convention so far. The GOP field now sits at five candidates after former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush suspended his campaign after Saturday night's South Carolina primary amid weak support.

Ted Cruz kept making his case, telling supporters that 'history teaches us that nobody has ever won the nomination without winning the first three primaries, and there are only two people who have done this'

He's got the young vote: A Trump fan poses for a photo following a rally at the Nugget casino on Tuesday

Let the voting begin: People stood – and rolled – in line waiting for the doors to open for the Nevada Republican presidential caucus at Western High School in Las Vegas

Caucuses are neighborhood meetings where voters come together to discuss candidates.

There were more than 130 locations across the 17 counties around Nevada on Tuesday.

A caucus chair is elected and then a representative for each candidate briefly explains why their candidates should win.

Residents then cast secret ballots.

Ivanka Trump released a 'how to caucus' video on Monday, explaining to Nevada Republicans how the process was 'super quick' and 'super easy.'

Nevada was the first state that indicated the candidates' standing among a racially diverse electorate including large numbers of Hispanic voters.

Iowa and New Hampshire are comparatively lily-white, and South Carolina's minority population is almost entirely African-American.

There are more than 130 locations across the 17 counties across Nevada - here people stand in line waiting for doors to open at Western High School in Las Vegas

Popular: A Rubio supporter manages to get a selfie with the presidential hopeful as he campaigns in Michigan on the night of the Nevada caucus

All smiles: Marco Rubio gives a thumbs up at a rally held tonight as he campaigned for victory

With Trump, a blunt-spoken political outsider, commanding a convincing lead, political strategists in the state said ahead of Tuesday's voting that Rubio and Cruz had a modest goal: a clear second place, which could propel them through the busy voting month of March.

'They're playing for second,' said Ralston.

Lagging behind were retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who on Tuesday stoked controversy by suggesting that President Barack Obama, the first African-American U.S. president, was 'raised white,' and Ohio Governor John Kasich.

Kasich, who finished second to Trump in the February 9 New Hampshire primary, kept his focus on bigger states, including Michigan and Virginia.

Rubio left the state before voting began, preferring to campaign in Minnesota and Michigan instead.

After finishes of third in Iowa, fifth in New Hampshire and second in South Carolina, Rubio now needs a win soon to support his theory that he is the primary beneficiary of Bush's departure.

Indeed, Republican establishment heavyweights have been flooding to Rubio in recent days, including Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch.

South Florida's three Cuban-American members of Congress announced their support for him in the hours before the Nevada contest.

The endorsements weren't enough to push him over the top, though, and Trump once again came out the victor.

This morning the GOP's leading candidate said that while he will have 'very many' endorsements to announce soon, he's not seeking them out because they are a 'waste of time.' Trump said on GMA, 'Endorsements mean very little....it's a lot of work.'

Lagging behind was retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who on Tuesday stoked controversy by suggesting that President Barack Obama, the first African-American U.S. president, was 'raised white'

Cruzing for victory: Ted Cruz posed for a selfie with a supporter, before his defeat to The Donald

'We have incredible room to grow,' Rubio told reporters during a Monday night news conference on his campaign plane.

After accusing Cruz of leading a campaign culture of 'lies,' the Florida senator asserted that Trump's support is capped at roughly one-third of the Republican electorate.

'That means 65 percent of the party is against him,' Rubio said. 'The problem is that 65 percent has been divided up among a lot of people. As long as that continues, he'll succeed. But once it consolidates against an alternative he'll lose.'

Rubio has picked up endorsements from several Nevada party leaders, including U.S. Senator Dean Heller and Nevada Lieutenant Governor Mark Hutchison.

His campaign staff was due to be joined by Marc Short, a senior political adviser to the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch, Politico reported on Tuesday.

The influential brothers, who have not endorsed any candidates, spend tens of millions to advance their libertarian brand of politics, which would sharply limit the role of government.

On Tuesday night, the Florida senator spoke during a rally at a western Michigan auto supplier, two weeks before the state's primary.

He says he can unify Republicans before the November election and appeal to Democrats who 'never' vote for GOP candidates.

John Kasich, who finished second to Trump in the February 9 New Hampshire primary, has kept his focus on bigger states, including Michigan and Virginia

The Cruz campaign, meanwhile, lost a key staffer on Monday when the candidate fired his main spokesman, Rick Tyler, for posting a video that falsely showed Rubio dismissing the Bible.

Complicating the already bumpy path to victory for Cruz, lingering questions over the Texan's birthplace continue to dog his campaign. He was born in Canada, in the western city of Calgary, to a Cuban father and U.S. citizen mother.

Trump, known to verbally savage rivals, including fueling questions over Cruz's birthplace eligibility, appeared to continue to focus his venom on Cruz.

Speaking on Tuesday, Cruz said he is facing the same sort of opposition from the Washington establishment that tried to take Ronald Reagan out before he unseated Jimmy Carter.

Representing: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump exits The Trump Store inside the Trump Hotel as voters caucus in Las Vegas, Nevada