Donald Trump displayed formidable geographic and demographic reach as he captured four states in Super Duper Tuesday, proving he can win anywhere — and with any type of voter.

Even in the contests that were close, Trump showed he can reach well beyond his supposed “base” of working class and “angry” Republicans, according to exit polls.

In Illinois, for instance, he won among primary voters in Chicago and its suburbs — including Cook County — where Republicans tend to be moderates, as well as in the rural, southern part of the state.

In Missouri, despite edging Sen. Ted Cruz statewide by a margin of just 1,726 votes, Trump carried all but one congressional district.

Trump also captured his usual voting bloc. He did best among lesser-educated and lower-income voters. He tended to lose to Cruz among “very conservative” voters but won the “somewhat” conservative vote. He also generally outperformed his competitors among independents and those concerned about trade and immigration.

But he also won moderates who would seem more likely to back Sen. Marco Rubio or Gov. John Kasich.

[lz_third_party includes=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhJzIy30qvw”]

It is results like those that have Trump backers convinced he is in the best position to broaden the Republican tent by attracting new voters. Cruz, they argue, has limited appeal beyond the most conservative and most reliably Republican voters.

At the same time, Trump does inspire a great deal of hostility. A large share of voters in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio — it ranged from 39 percent to 44 percent — said they would consider a third-party candidate if Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton are the nominees.

Patrick Miller, a University of Kansas political science professor, said it difficult to use primary results to make judgments about a possible general election matchup because primary voters are only a small subset of the much larger electorate that will determine the outcome in November.

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

Miller said Trump’s high negatives and the possibility that some Republicans will decide not to vote are real concerns for the brash billionaire. But he noted that while it is not unusual for contentious primaries to produce disgruntled voters, it has been decades since a significant number of voters deserted their party’s nominee in the general election.

“He will not be the first general election candidate with a net negative view,” he said. “The fact is, by the end of this, people probably aren’t going to like either of the candidates … Partisans will fall in line.”

[lz_related_box id=”121300″]

For weeks, Cruz has been making the case that Trump is unacceptable to a majority of Republicans and that he would win if he could just get the other candidates out of the race. Tuesday produced some evidence to support the theory. Exit polls indicated that he would have won the North Carolina and Missouri primaries if he and Trump were the only candidates.

That was not the case elsewhere, though. Had home state Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Marco Rubio not been on the ballot in Ohio, Trump would have edged Cruz, according to exit polls. Trump also would have been the choice of 53 percent Republicans in Florida if the race has been a contest between him and the second-place finisher, Rubio.

Trump started the 2016 campaign with even higher negative ratings among Republicans than he has today. He turned those numbers around en route to a commanding lead in the race. If he can duplicate that feat among the broader electorate, he may be President Trump.