Marco Rubio finally wins a state

Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio appears to have finally won a contest in the 2016 presidential election.

Rubio was projected by Fox News and The Associated Press on Tuesday to win the GOP caucuses in Minnesota.

With about 70% of the precincts in, Rubio had 36% of the vote there, compared to Ted Cruz's 28% and Donald Trump's 22%.

Rubio's campaign has been surging in recent days as much of the Republish establishment rushed to his corner.

But was dogged by the fact that he had yet to outright win anywhere, despite relatively strong finishes in Iowa and South Carolina.

Earlier in the evening Tuesday, Rubio performed better than expected in Virginia, and his supporters briefly held out hope that he would win there. But Trump edged him out in the end. Trump, the Republican frontrunner, has dominated in the contests thus far, but Cruz grabbed two wins on Super Tuesday.

The Midwest has been one of Trump's weakest regions. At the start of February, Trump underperformed in the Iowa caucuses, which Cruz won in an upset. Rubio finished just behind Trump there in third place.