房地产大亨川普成为共和党总统提名领跑者

Billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump has emerged as the clear front-runner for the Republican nomination in the U.S. presidential race, but two U.S. senators, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, are both claiming they can overtake him when a large group of states votes over the next three weeks.

亿万房地产大亨川普已经明显成为共和党总统提名的领跑者。但是两位古巴裔美国联邦参议员鲁比奥和克鲁兹都宣称，他们在未来三周众多州的选举中能够打败川普。

Trump, a political novice, convincingly won his second straight Republican primary election Saturday, collecting nearly a third of the vote in the Atlantic coastal state of South Carolina. Rubio, a Florida senator, edged Cruz, a Texas senator, for second place, with both getting about 22 percent of the vote.

政治新手川普星期六再次赢得共和党初选。在南卡罗来纳州的选举中，川普赢得近三分之一的选票；来自佛罗里达州的联邦参议员鲁比奥以微弱优势击败来自德克萨斯州的联邦参议员克鲁兹，获得第二，两人的都得票率都为大约22%。

Surveys show the flamboyant Trump, who has hurled insults at his opponents throughout the months-long campaign, with a sizeable lead over both Rubio and Cruz in the next state to vote, the U.S. gambling hub of Nevada. Republicans are holding party caucuses there on Tuesday.

民调显示，在长达数月的竞选中经常攻击对手的川普在下一个举行投票的内华达州的支持率遥遥领先于鲁比奥和克鲁兹。内华达州是美国的博彩中心，共和党将于星期二在那里举行党团选举。

Voting is set for 27 other states by March 15.

到3月15日之前，还将有其他27个州举行党内投票。

Trump told CNN Sunday that he expects to win the Republican nomination and face former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic contender, in November's national presidential election. He said that despite surveys showing him losing a hypothetical race against her, he would give Republicans a chance to win such key states as New York and Michigan that the party normally loses in presidential elections.

川普星期天对CNN说，他期待赢得共和党提名，然后在11月的全国总统大选中迎战民主党总统候选人提名领跑者、前美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿。川普说，虽然民调显示他会输给克林顿，但是他将让共和党有机会赢得在以往总统大选中输掉的像纽约州和密西根州这样的关键州。

Clinton scored a big victory Saturday, winning the Nevada Democratic caucuses, by about a 53 to 47 percent margin over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist.

克林顿星期六在内华达州的民主党党团选举中赢得大胜。她以52.7%对47.3%的得票率击败来自佛蒙特州的联邦参议员、自称为民主社会主义者的桑德斯。

The Nevada victory gave Clinton, who was the country's top diplomat from 2009 to 2013, a much needed boost for her campaign after she narrowly edged Sanders in the Iowa caucuses earlier this month and he routed her in the New Hampshire primary.

克林顿在内华达州的胜利为她的选战打了一针亟需的强心剂。本月早些时候，她在爱奥华州的党团选举中只是险胜桑德斯，而在新罕布什尔州的党内初选中，她则败给了桑德斯。

Trump hailed his South Carolina victory as "an incredible movement with incredible people."

川普称他取得的南卡胜利是“不可思议的人形成的不可思议的运动”。

Cruz, a conservative thorn in the side of the Washington establishment, told his supporters he is the only Trump opponent who has beaten him so far, in the Iowa caucuses three weeks ago.

属于华盛顿政府中保守强硬派的克鲁兹则对他的支持者们说，他是目前为止，也就是在三个星期前的爱奥华州党团选举中，唯一打败过川普的对手。

But Rubio declared, "This has become a three-person race and we will win the nomination."

但是鲁比奥则宣称：“这是三个人的选战，我们将赢得提名。”

The one-time 17-candidate Republican field has now dwindled to five - Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Ohio Governor John Kasich and former neurosurgeon Ben Carson.

共和党阵营中曾经有17名参选者，但现在只剩5人。他们是川普、克鲁兹、鲁比奥、爱荷华州州长约翰·卡西其和前神经外科医生本·卡森。