FRONT-RUNNERS MAINTAIN THEIR DELEGATE LEADS
TRUMP FASHIONS FIVE-STATE SWEEP
Republican candidate Donald Trump easily won primaries across the Northeast, expanding his lead, and Democrat Hillary Clinton has the nomination within reach as she looks ahead to the general election.
Donald Trump rolled to crushing victories Tuesday in primaries across the Eastern seaboard, substantially expanding the divisive mogul’s delegate lead and narrowing the chances for his opponents to stop his march to the Republican presidential nomination.
Trump was projected to win decisively in all five of the states holding primaries: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Tuesday’s rout was an embarrassing and potentially debilitating blow for Trump’s nearest rival, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who trailed the victor by wide margins in all five states. In some cases, early returns showed Cruz running third, behind Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Now mathematically eliminated from winning the 1,237 delegates required to secure the nomination outright, Cruz and Kasich are banking on a contested party convention in Cleveland to somehow deny Trump the nomination.
But with a fresh jolt from Tuesday’s
big wins, Trump is on course to perhaps amass enough delegates by the end of primary voting in June. Heading into Tuesday’s contests, Trump had 845 pledged delegates — a lead of nearly 300 over Cruz — and was poised to pull further ahead by another 100 delegates or more.
Basking in what he called his “biggest night” of the race so far, Trump declared himself the “presumptive nominee” as he claimed victory at Trump Tower in New York alongside family and friends, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
“I consider myself the presumptive nominee, absolutely,” Trump said. “Honestly, Sen. Cruz and Gov. Kasich should really get out of the race. They have no path to victory at all . ... We should heal the Republican Party, bring the Republican Party together. And I’m a unifier.”
Tuesday’s results brought into sharp relief the regional divide in the Republican race. Trump has dominated east of the Mississippi River, winning every contest — from New England to the Bible Belt, save for three: Maine, Ohio and Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Cruz’s strength has been concentrated in the Plains, Midwest and Rocky Mountain West, where many contests have been caucuses that attract fewer voters than primaries and reward the best-organized campaigns.
The Northeast was long seen as friendly territory for Trump, who last week notched a blowout win in his home state of New York. Polls showed Trump with imposing leads in all five states, but Cruz and Kasich did not cede them. They campaigned in areas of Maryland and Pennsylvania especially, hoping to win delegates from targeted areas.
Trump tapped into voters’ economic angst as well as their distrust and disapproval of the political establishment. He railed against what he called a “rigged” GOP nomi- nating system — an argument that gained oxygen over the weekend when Cruz and Kasich struck an unusual nonaggression pact.
For Trump, the path ahead could be more challenging. Next Tuesday’s primary in Indiana — a winner-take-all contest that will award 57 delegates — is shaping up as a major stand by Cruz and his allies, as well as by Our Principles PAC, the well-funded super PAC dedicated to stopping Trump from winning the nomination.
Addressing supporters in Knightstown, Ind., Cruz said that after Tuesday’s results, “the media is going to say Donald Trump is the Republican nominee.”
“But I’ve got good news for you,” he added. “Tonight, this campaign moves back to move favorable terrain . ... The question is: Can the state of Indiana stop the media’s chosen Republican candidate?”
From there, the contest goes to Nebraska and West Virginia.
The former is seen as a likely Cruz pickup considering the Texan’s strength earlier in neighboring states such as Iowa and Kansas.