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CHARLESTON, S.C. – Things sure look good for Donald Trump.

The Republican presidential race expanded across the country Sunday, and polls show Trump ahead in eight of the dozen states voting in the next nine days.

Trump has now won primaries in two very different states, center-right New Hampshire and evangelical-dominated South Carolina. And the Republican Party system of choosing a presidential nominee favors candidates who continue to win early primaries and caucuses.

The biggest hope for stopping Trump is for a single strong challenger to emerge, and so far that hasn’t happened.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., finished second Saturday in South Carolina, but he was 10 percentage points behind Trump and barely edged Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Polls show Rubio ahead in only one Super Tuesday state, Minnesota, though he could contend in Virginia and Tennessee, which have big moderate Republican constituencies.

But in Michigan, which votes that day, and Florida, Illinois, Missouri and Ohio, which vote a week later, Gov. John Kasich of Ohio is making a strong effort for the same constituency. Cruz has a more daunting test. In the upcoming contests, he also has to contend with Ben Carson, who’s far behind but appeals to the same voters.

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Trump is also going to find a delegate selection process to his liking. The Republican race now is less about who finishes second or third than who can win the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus deliberately created a process designed to produce a nominee quickly. By March 15, about 60 percent of Republican delegates will have been chosen.

Rules favor winners. In some states, candidates must get at least 20 percent of the vote to win delegates. In theory, if someone won 35 percent, and no one else got 20 percent, that candidate would win all the state’s delegates.