Kansas represents an upset victory for Ted Cruz. | AP Photo Cruz crushes Trump in Kansas

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the Kansas Republican caucuses by an overwhelming margin on Saturday, more than doubling Donald Trump's share of the vote.

Kansas represents an upset victory for Cruz, as polls showed him trailing Trump heading into Saturday’s vote. But it also demonstrates the senator's strength in closed caucuses, where his campaign's superior organization can be more fully brought to bear.


Cruz campaigned aggressively in Kansas leading up to the caucuses, holding rallies on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Trump campaigned little, not making a single in-state appearance until a last-minute rally on Saturday. He had largely steered clear of buying airtime on major networks in Kansas City and Wichita, and landed a single major endorsement, from Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

Gov. Sam Brownback had endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, along with Sen. Pat Roberts and former Sen. Bob Dole.

Kansas awards its 40 Republican delegates on a proportional basis. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Cruz won 48.2 percent of the vote (earning him 24 delegates), Trump came in second with 23.3 percent (nine delegates), Rubio third with 16.7 percent (four delegates), and Ohio Gov. fourth with 10.7 percent (one delegate).

Of the six states that have held GOP caucuses so far, Cruz has won four, and six primary contests overall. On Tuesday, he scored his home state of Texas, as well as Alaska and Oklahoma. On Saturday, he also won the Maine caucuses easily, though he narrowly lost primaries in Kentucky and Louisiana to Trump.

View final results: http://politi.co/1oGcEFv

2016 delegate tracker: http://politi.co/2176fPm