Trump, Clinton score key wins in New York

REPUBLICAN DONALD Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton scored sweeping victories in nominating contests in their home state of New York, and immediately cited those wins to argue they are all but unstoppable as their respective parties’ presidential nominees.

Trump’s crushing defeat of Ted Cruz in the primary election tilted the energy in the Republican race back to the frontrunner.

For the Democratic favourite, Clinton’s more narrow victory over Bernie Sanders snapped a string of victories by the 74-yearold socialist and gave her a much-needed lift with more fights ahead.

Trump’s win, celebrated to the tune of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” at Trump Tower in Manhattan, marked a rebound from his Wisconsin defeat two weeks ago. It set him up for another big night on April 26, when Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Maryland hold primaries.

With a campaign staff reboot and a more focused performance, Trump has sought to improve in recent weeks as a candidate. The tone of his victory speech was in keeping with a more measured style the often-brash billionaire has adopted. “We don’t have much of a race anymore based on what I’m seeing on television,” Trump said as television networks projected a large margin of victory for him. “Senator Cruz is just about mathematically eliminated.”

Clinton got nowhere near the knockout punch she needed to finally put Sanders away.

But the broad smile on her face as she gave her victory speech spoke volumes about how important New York was to her bid to become the first female US president.

“Today you proved once again there’s no place like home,” Clinton said. “This one was personal.” Her win made it nearly impossible for Sanders to overtake her lead in delegates needed to win the nomination. REUTERS

Reuters Trump celebrates in Manhattan.