Trump, Clinton aim for Michigan wins to increase leads

Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton look to build on their leads in the presidential nominating races when four states vote on Tuesday, and polls show both front-runners comfortably ahead in the biggest prize of Michigan.

Trump hopes to regain his momentum after suffering a week of blistering attacks from the party’s establishment and splitting four contests on Saturday with rival Ted Cruz, who positioned himself as the prime alternative to the brash billionaire in the race for the party’s nomination for the November 8 election.

Most opinion polls show Trump hanging on to a solid double-digit lead in Michigan over Cruz, a US senator from Texas, and Ohio Governor John Kasich.

The establishment favourite, US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, lags behind and is seen needing a breakthrough win in his home state next week to keep his campaign alive.

Republicans and Democrats will also vote in Mississippi, and Republicans in Idaho and Hawaii will make their choices on a day when 150 Republican delegates and 166 Democratic delegates will be up for grabs.

But the focus on Tuesday is the industrial battleground of Michigan, where Trump’s relentless anti-free trade rhetoric and promise to slap taxes on cars and parts shipped in from Mexico has resonated in a state that has lost tens of thousands of manufacturing and auto industry jobs.

“Trump has been holding strong and no one seems to be catching up,” said Republican pollster Steve Mitchell, whose latest Fox 2/Detroit poll on Sunday showed Trump with a 22-point lead on Cruz and Kasich.

Among Democrats, Clinton, 68, also has a solid double-digit lead in Michigan opinion polls over rival Bernie Sanders, 74, a US senator from Vermont. The former secretary of state is also expected to do well i n Mississippi, where t he Democratic electorate will be dominated by black voters who have overwhelmingly favoured her over Sanders.