AS expected, Senator Bob Dole added victory in South Dakotas' Republican presidential primary his North Dakota victory early yesterday, according to television network projections, but he faced a stiffer test from commentator Mr Pat Buchanan and publisher Mr Steve Forbes in Arizona.
North Dakota, South Dakota and Arizona were holding primaries yesterday with 75 delegates to the Republican National Convention at stake. Arizona, with 39 delegates all going to the winner, was seen as the big prize.
As voting closed in North Dakota, which conducted much of its voting by mail, US television networks projected Senator Dole the winner based on exit polling. Polls closed later in the other states.
The networks did not project show many of North Dakota's 18 delegates Senator Dole would win since they are allocated in that state by percentage of the vote.
Senator Dole had been expected to win the Dakotas, which are predominantly farming states similar this native Kansas.
Senator Dole's campaign was rocked by surprise primary election defeats to Mr Buchanan in New Hampshire a week ago and to Mr Forbes in Delaware on Saturday.
Mr Buchanan has been charging around Arizona, covering 1,500 miles since last Thursday in search of another win that would impart more momentum to his populist, anti free trade, anti big business, fundamentalist Christian campaign.
Mr Forbes has also put in a strong effort, spending an estimated $4 million on television advertising. He screened a half hour "infommercial" on some Arizona stations on Monday evening and boldly predicted "We're not only going to do well in Arizona, we're going to win in Arizona."
Local television stations said voting in Arizona was chaotic. The biggest problem was that the Republicans set up less than a third of the regular number of polling stations to save money. Television stations said voters jammed phone lines to Republican headquarters trying to find out where to vote. Long lines developed at some venues.
At stake in Arizona were 39 delegates. The prize in the North Dakota and South Dakota primaries was 18 delegates per state. The races are relatively small change in terms of delegates, but important nonetheless to the momentum of the various campaigns as they head into a blizzard of decisive primaries in March.
Mr Dole has the most to lose from a defeat in Arizona, which would raise further questions about the strength of his candidacy in the wake of his stunning defeat in New Hampshire.
Polls published yesterday show general erosion of support for the Senate majority leader, at 72 the oldest candidate and one increasingly depicted as a legislative technician with no vision.
While other candidates no ably Mr Buchanan and Mr Alexander have surged since New Hampshire, Mr Dole has watched his popularity fall among Republican voters from 44 to 41 per cent, according to a CNN/USA Today poll, but he is still viewed as the front runner.