Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton Barely Win Missouri Primaries: Delegate Count

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the winners of Tuesday's presidential primaries in Missouri — at least for now.

With all precincts reporting, Trump defeated Ted Cruz by less than one-half of 1 percent, or 1,726 votes, according to the Missouri secretary of state’s office.

Clinton also defeated Bernie Sanders by less than one-half of 1 percent, or 1,531 votes, the office reported.

That makes recounts possible for both races.

Initial delegate allocation announced by the Missouri GOP gave Trump 37 and Cruz 15, further extending Trump's lead in the national race for the Republican nomination. Clinton and Sanders split Missouri's delegates with 32 each.

On the Democratic side nationally, that leaves Trump with 673, Cruz with 410 and John Kasich with 143.

For the Democrats, Clinton had 1,139 pledged delegates to Sanders' 825.

Update at 1:37 a.m.:

The race remains too close to call, with 100 percent of the precincts reporting, according to the NYTimes.

Update 11 p.m.: Try getting closer than this.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Donald Trump leads Ted Cruz by... 2,315 total votes.
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Update 10:49 p.m.: Ted Cruz is in a virtual tie with Donald Trump in Missouri with 59 percent of precincts reporting and as Cruz makes his speech.

The two candidates are separated by the slimmest of margins. It could be a long night.
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Update 10:08 p.m.: As Donald Trump makes his victory speech, he continues to cling to a small lead over Ted Cruz in Missouri. With 28 percent of precincts reporting, he leads by just 2 percentage points.
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Update 9:25 p.m.: It looks like Missouri could be in for a long night on the Republican side, as Donald Trump and Ted Cruz appeared to be in a right race with nearly 10 percent of precincts reporting.

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Update 8:40 p.m.: As way-too-early results start to trickle in, the state's race is still characterized as too early to call.

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Update: 8:23 p.m.: Marco Rubio wasn't expected to have much of an impact in the Missouri race, but he just officially announced that he is dropping out of the race after a crushing defeat in his home state of Florida.

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Update 8:03 p.m.: The polls have officially closed in Missouri. We'll keep you updated on the latest results right here.

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Update 7:46 p.m.: We're approaching polls closing across the state, and exit poll data seems to show what state polls did: Republican voters are very conservative.

NBCNews exit polls showed that 43 percent of Republican voters in Missouri described themselves as "very conservative" while 37 percent said they were "somewhat conservative." Just 18 percent described themselves as "moderate," and 2 percent said they were "liberal."

That would seem to bode well for Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, two candidates who have captured the attention of very conservative voters.
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Original story below

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz were projected to be in a tight race in Missouri, where the state's voters took to the polls as part of the latest Super Tuesday.

Polls opened in the state at 6 a.m. and were scheduled to close at 7 p.m.

You can find your Missouri voting location here.

• Check back with Patch when polls close for live results from Missouri's Republican primary.
• SEE ALSO: Missouri Democratic Primary Results: Another Bernie Sanders Upset?
• NATIONAL COVERAGE: Primary Results for Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina

Missouri officials were reporting a high voter turnout, continuing a trend seen in other primaries so far in this cycle.

If state polling is any indication, it should be a tight race in the Republican field.

According to a Fort Hayes State University Poll of Missouri residents, Trump leads the Republican field with 36 percent support followed by Cruz 29 percent. Marco Rubio had 9 percent and John Kasich had 8. Seventeen percent were undecided.

The poll was conducted from March 3 through March 10 and had an 8 percent margin of error, putting Trump and Cruz in a virtual tie for the state's vote.

A Cruz victory would deal another blow to Trump's quest for a delegate majority heading into the Republican convention in July.

Before Tuesday's voting, Trump had 460 pledged delegates nationally compared to Cruz's 370. Rubio has 163 pledged delegates with Kasich at 63.

Missouri is a winner-take-all state, with 52 Republican delegates up for grabs.

Find more Missouri primary voting information here.

Images via Gage Skidmore, Flickr