From Toledo, Ohio -

Donald Trump's drive for the Republican nomination for President ran into some unexpected GOP headwinds over the weekend, as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio combined for three wins, limiting Trump to just 30 percent of the delegates from five contests on Saturday and Sunday.

Cruz had surprisingly strong victories on Saturday in Kansas and Maine, while Trump won in Kentucky and Louisiana - though in Louisiana, it was actually a delegate tie between Trump and Cruz.

Rubio took 23 winner take all delegates in Puerto Rico on Sunday, salvaging what had been a very disappointing start to his weekend.

All four states were "closed" Republican contests - in other words, no independents or Democrats could vote, depriving Trump of one source of his support.

Here is the weekend GOP delegate count from Kansas, Maine, Kentucky, Louisiana and Puerto Rico:

Cruz 69

Trump 53

Rubio 41

Kasich 10

Unpledged 5

That works out to the following percentage for the weekend delegates:

Cruz - 39%

Trump - 30%

Rubio - 23%

Kasich - 6%

The current running totals for the GOP:

Trump - 391 / 43%

Cruz - 304 / 34%

Rubio - 148 / 16%

Kasich - 37 / 4%

As you might expect, Cruz was very upbeat about the results.

Cruz and Trump will campaign on Monday in Mississippi, the second biggest state behind Michigan on March 8.

Also voting for the Republicans on Tuesday will be Idaho and Hawaii.

The only Republican still making stops in Michigan is John Kasich, who will be there again on Monday and Tuesday.

Kasich held two rallies in his home state of Ohio on Sunday, starting work early to drum up support for his bid to slow Trump even more.

"Why don't we straighten this whole election out and let the Governor of Ohio get sent to the White House," Kasich said to big cheers.

ajc.com

Jamie Dupree

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Jamie Dupree