Marco Rubio is projected to win his first state of the presidential primary season, claiming victory Tuesday in the Minnesota caucuses.
The Associated Press called the race for the senator at 11:15 p.m. EST.
{mosads}Rubio’s win in Minnesota gives him a valuable point to promote for the next few weeks as he runs toward his must-win primary in his home state of Florida.
While not a huge boost to his delegate count, the victory allows Rubio to break what has been the most damaging storyline plaguing his candidacy so far – the notion that he is a media darling who continually falls short in electoral contests.
Leading into Super Tuesday, Rubio and his allies had targeted Virginia and Minnesota as two states in which they could beat GOP front-runner Donald Trump. But the billionaire narrowly defeated Rubio in Virginia.
Rubio’s win gives him a counterpoint to his rival Ted Cruz as he tries to convince Republicans to unite around him as the only viable candidate to beat Trump.