Trump and Clinton lose out in Wisconsin

It was a case of the favourites losing out in both the Republican and Democratic primaries in Wisconsin this week, with Ted Cruz scoring a decisive win for the state’s GOP delegates.

Donald Trump still held the top spot in the overall race, but risked falling short of the number of delegates required to secure the Republican presidential nomination.

Among Trump’s rivals and the Republican leadership, there remained hope for a brokered convention where voting would begin from scratch. Such a convention would occur if no candidate wins enough delegates in the primaries.

Leaders of the GOP feared a Trump nomination would weaken their chances at the presidency, and for other political positions up for grabs in November. He remained extremely unpopular among Latin Americans, young people and women, according to polls.

True to his style, Trump refused to show any signs of weakness on Tuesday.

“Ted Cruz is worse than a puppet - he is a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination,” his campaign office said in a statement.

In the Democratic race, social democrat Bernie Sanders added to his raft of recent wins, taking out every county in the state except Milwaukee.

However, as delegates were awarded proportionally his advantage over Hillary Clinton was diluted - Sanders won at least 44 delegates, but Clinton still clinched a minimum of 28.

Clinton still held a significant lead, with upcoming primaries in her home state New York and Pennsylvania likely to swing in her favour, despite recent losses.