The America Donald Trump needs to win the GOP presidential nomination looks a lot like Nevada. Trump, the front-runner in the Republican race, captured the Nevada caucuses Tuesday by winning nearly everywhere.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at his watch party at Treasure Island hotel-casino in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

Michelle Creech celebrates with others as numbers come in projecting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as the winner of the Nevada GOP caucus at Trump‘s watch party at Treasure Island hotel-casino in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio poises for a selfie during a campaign rally at the Silverton Casino, 3333 Blue Diamond Road on Tuesday, Feb.23, 2016. Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @jlscheid

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz speaks during a Nevada caucus watch party at Bill and Lillie Heinrich YMCA on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco

Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson speaks during the watch party at Embassy Suites Convention Center on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, in Las Vegas. Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @bizutesfaye

Volunteer Dan Robson, center, helps caucus goers find their way around during the 2016 Republican caucus at Centennial High School in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. Brett Le Blanc/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @bleblancphoto

Mark Howells, right, reads ballots aloud as Angelo Gomez counts them during the Nevada Republican presidential caucus at Green Valley High School in Henderson on Tuesday, Feb. 23. 2016. Daniel Clark/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @DanJClarkPhoto

Republican caucus-goers arrive at Bonanza High School in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

Donald Trump supporter Mitchell Wilburn poses for a portrait at Del Sol High School during the Nevada Republican caucus on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco

Volunteers search precinct sign in files during the Republican caucus at Canyon Springs High School, 350 E. Alexander Road, in North Las Vegas on Tuesday, Feb.23, 2016. Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @jlscheid

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wait for numbers to come in for the Nevada GOP caucus at Trump‘s watch party at Treasure Island hotel-casino in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, flanked by sons Donald Trump Jr., left, and Eric Trump, speaks at his watch party at Treasure Island hotel-casino in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wait for numbers to come in for the Nevada GOP caucus at Trump‘s watch party at Treasure Island hotel-casino in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

The America Donald Trump needs to win the GOP presidential nomination looks a lot like Nevada.

Trump, the front-runner in the Republican race, captured the Nevada caucuses Tuesday by winning nearly everywhere.

He did well in the urban core of Southern Nevada, Washoe County and in most rural areas. He lost just two of 17 counties: Elko and Lincoln went to Ted Cruz.

“He was very close to tipping over the 50 percent mark in a field that still has five candidates,” said Fred Lokken, political science professor with Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno. “This guy has a momentum of his own that is in defiance of the establishment, that is in defiance of the way campaigns are traditionally done … He’s not one of these one- or two-horse wonders.”

Trump received 45.9 percent of the vote in Nevada, which gave Trump his third win, following New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries. If that success holds true in other states, the GOP establishment’s only potential hope of toppling the billionaire businessman would be to channel all anti-Trump voters to one Republican alternative.

The prospect of a solid front against him doesn’t appear to worry Trump, who has said people will pivot to him after their first choice drops out of the race.

“Tomorrow you’d hear them say, ‘you know, if they could just take the other candidates and add them up, and if you could add them up because you know the other candidates amount to 55 percent,'” Trump told supporters Tuesday night at Treasure Island. “They keep forgetting that when people drop out, we’re going to get a lot of votes. You know they keep forgetting.”

It’s still a five-way race for the GOP nomination. In Nevada, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas placed second and third, respectively. Combined, their Nevada support was less than 45 percent, according to caucus results tallied through The Associated Press. Even combined, that’s less than Trump.

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Ohio Gov. John Kasich shared 8.4 percent of the vote.

For Trump, it wasn’t a matter of persuading voters to pick him at the last minute. He began sewing up his victory weeks ago.

CNN entrance polling of 1,573 caucus participants found 49 percent decided who to support more than a month ago, and 59 percent of that group liked Trump.

Among voters who decided on caucus day, Rubio had a slight lead over Trump: 30 percent to 28 percent.

In Clark County, Trump got 48.9 percent of the vote, more than his statewide average. Rubio got 24.58 percent, while Cruz got 19.1 percent. Overall, 75,216 Nevada Republicans caucused.

Trump had a 24 percentage point margin of victory in Clark County. In Washoe County, Nevada’s other population center, Trump led with a 20 percentage point margin.

Trump’s margin was even wider in some rural Nevada counties.

He had a 50 percentage point margin of victory in Esmeralda County, the highest in Nevada. The sample size was small. Fewer than 100 people caucused. Forty-six people in that county supported Trump. The second-highest vote-getter was Cruz, with nine. Rubio got eight votes; Carson, seven.

The narrowest county win for Trump was Lander County, which he won with a 4 percentage point margin. In that county, 165 people voted for Trump. Just 17 votes separated he and Cruz, who had 148 backers.

For Cruz, Elko County was the most receptive. He won 43.8 percent of Elko County to Trump’s 25.3 percent.

Trump’s win wasn’t necessarily a surprise, though his margin surprised some.

“I thought Cruz and Rubio would do better here because they were more organized, because it was a caucus, and because we have a strong Hispanic population,” said conservative blogger Chuck Muth.

Muth, is a consultant for a super PAC that backs Carson.

“If it wasn’t for Carson, I’d be with Trump,” said Muth, president of Citizen Outreach, a conservative Nevada grassroots organization. The second choice of all of these other candidates is Trump for a lot of them.”

The more Trump wins, the more people will be drawn to him, he said.

“There is a very real and a strong human desire to be with a winner,” Muth said.

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1