Voices from voters as they cast primary ballots in 4 states
WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in four states are making their choices Tuesday in party primaries. Michigan is the big prize sought by Republican front-runner Donald Trump, as he aims to prevent his rivals from narrowing the delegate gap. Mississippi, Idaho and Hawaii are also holding Republican contests. Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders face off in Michigan and Mississippi.
Here's a look at what some voters had to say:
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Claire and Mick Olinik of Traverse City, Michigan, are self-described conservatives. But a few minutes into the most recent Republican debate, the couple — who have a young son — turned off the television in disgust.
"Embarrassing," said Mick, 39. Added Claire, 31: "If they can't communicate with each other, people who in theory share their same beliefs, how in the world are they going to communicate with people who don't?"
Their choice: John Kasich. The Ohio governor is fiscally responsible and smart, they said — someone who would exercise good judgment and represent the nation well in dealings with foreign leaders.
"I like the fact that he leans more conservative, but he's not a scary conservative," said Claire, a professional musician and co-owner with her husband of a marketing business. "Of everybody still left in the race, frankly, he's the one that scares me least."
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Jim Owen believes Donald Trump's detractors are listening to the language but not getting the message.
"He doesn't say wrong things," Owen said outside a beachside church in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where he voted Tuesday in the state's Republican presidential primary. "He says them incorrectly."
Owen, 74, knows something about presentation. He settled on the Mississippi Gulf Coast after a long career as a country music singer and songwriter: He wrote the song "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man," among others.
"He has the best interest of America at heart. I really believe that or I wouldn't vote for him," Owen said of Trump.
His GOP dream ticket would be Trump at the top with his second choice, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, as his running mate. "I'd like to see them run together but I don't think it will happen because I don't think they like each other enough."
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Carter Brown says his choice in Michigan's primary came down to one factor: experience. The 69-year-old appliance store assistant manager from the Detroit suburb of Dearborn said Democrat Hillary Clinton "knows government the best" and has "the nation's best interests at heart."
"I think she's the most qualified for the job," the married father of three grown children said Tuesday after voting at an elementary school. "That's really what we need — not some clown. I think she's a human being."
A little earlier and a few miles away, Clinton greeted customers and bought food at a Detroit bakery and coffee shop. She posed for — and even took — selfies as she sought support.
Brown said Donald Trump, the one he considers a clown, lacks statesmanship.
"His foreign policy is so limited," Brown said. "I can't imagine having him as president. To me, he's just not presidential material."
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Ryan Knott supported the auto industry bailout credited with saving Midwest manufacturing during the Great Recession. But he's not holding a grudge against Bernie Sanders for the senator's vote against the rescue package.
The 43-year-old, who works for a nonprofit in Lansing, Michigan, said the bigger issue for him now is Sanders' insistence on small campaign donations.
"I personally like that most of his funding comes from small donations, from actual real people, not corporations," Knott said.
He said he thinks Sanders is pushing the Democratic Party in the right direction and voted for him Tuesday at a community center in his hometown.
"I've got nothing against Hillary Clinton, at all," he added. "I really don't. I think she will likely be our president. I think she'll be a wonderful president. For me, this is a chance to voice an opinion and move things in a direction."
Support from Michigan voters could reveal Sanders' success in countering Clinton's criticism for his opposition to the 2009 bill that provided billions of dollars to rescue the auto industry. Sanders says he opposed the provision because it was part of a large bailout package for Wall Street. He voted for an earlier auto rescue bill when it was a stand-alone issue, but that measure ultimately failed.
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Carl von Buelow, a web developer in Ann Arbor, voted for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, saying conservative stances on social issues are important to him.
"I'm a Roman Catholic, and he's the candidate who's most aligned with my beliefs," he said of Cruz, a Southern Baptist. "He's a strong Christian."
Von Buelow says Cruz has a firm anti-abortion record and "strong moral values." He said he can't support Donald Trump because he doesn't trust his record on abortion.
"Trump is anti-life, and he is lacking in moral character of any kind," von Buelow said.
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Associated Press writers Michael Gerstein in Lansing, Michigan; Dee-Ann Durbin in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Jeff Karoub in Dearborn, Michigan; John Flesher in Traverse City, Michigan; and Kevin McGill in Pearlington, Mississippi, contributed to this report.