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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Trump says Cruz’s win was fraudulent; Paul drops out of race

Republican presidential candidate and businessman Donald Trump, left, speaks as Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during the Fox Business Network Republican presidential debate at the North Charleston Coliseum in this  Jan. 14,  file photo from North Charleston, S.C. (Rainier Ehrhardt / Associated Press)
Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is taking issue with the results of Monday’s Iowa caucuses, accusing contest winner Ted Cruz of fraud.

In attacks posted on his official Twitter account Wednesday, Trump says “either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.”

A previous tweet posted by the billionaire businessman accused the Cruz campaign of telling Iowa voters that Ben Carson was quitting the race so he could steal Carson votes.

Trump came in second behind Cruz in Monday’s leadoff Iowa caucuses – which he had previously described on Twitter as a “long-shot great finish.”

Paul drops out

Rand Paul is dropping out of the 2016 race for president.

Paul said in a statement that he will turn his full attention to his Senate re-election campaign in Kentucky. The 52-year-old ophthalmologist is favored to win that race.

The first-term senator from Kentucky exits the race having never caught on with Republican voters, who have made billionaire businessman Donald Trump the front-runner in the race for the party’s nomination.

Paul was determined to improve the GOP’s popularity among younger voters and minorities. But his message failed to catch on and his appeal never broadened beyond the small group of libertarian-leaning Republicans that backed the previous White House bids of his father, Ron Paul.