New York (CNN)Donald
Trump and Hillary Clinton notched resounding victories in New York
Tuesday night, answering questions about their command of the race as
the front-runners moved significantly closer to their party's
nominations.
Their decisive
wins usher in a new phase in the 2016 campaign. Both Trump and Clinton
have fought bitterly for months to keep their rivals at bay, each
slogging through primary contests that exposed vulnerabilities in their
candidacies and campaigns.
On
Tuesday, Trump came close to sweeping New York's 95 delegates -- a
development that could help the Manhattan real estate mogul win the GOP
nomination outright and avoid what would be an explosive and messy
contested convention in July. Clinton's win, meanwhile, will go a long
way in blunting the momentum of Bernie Sanders -- the liberal Vermont
senator whose unexpected popularity has dogged the former secretary of
state.
As of 12 a.m. ET, Trump held
847 delegates, while Ted Cruz had 553 and John Kasich had 148,
according to CNN estimate. A Republican candidate needs 1,237 delegates
to clinch the nomination.
Across
the aisle, Clinton was leading with 1,930 delegates including 1,443
pledged delegates and 487 superdelegates. Sanders had a total of 1,223
delegates including 1,183 pledged delegates and 40 superdelegates. A
Democratic candidate needs 2,383 delegates to secure the nomination.
It was a sweet homecoming for the front-runners, who each have deep ties to New York.
Last
year, Trump and Clinton -- in wildly different settings -- launched
their White House campaigns in New York City. On Tuesday, it was again
in Manhattan that both Trump and Clinton confidently declared that they
were within reach of the ultimate prize.
In a victory speech in the lobby of Trump Tower, Trump said Cruz was "just about mathematically eliminated."
"We don't have much of a race anymore," Trump boomed. "We're going to go into the convention I think as the winner."
His
remarks suggested he may take a less harsh tone against his GOP
competitors in the weeks ahead. While Trump slammed Cruz, he called him
"senator" instead of his favorite nickname: "Lyin' Ted."
'Victory is in sight'
And at a midtown Sheraton Hotel just two avenues west, Clinton triumphantly told supporters that "victory is in sight."
"We
started this race not far from here on Roosevelt Island," Clinton said
in her victory speech. "And tonight, a little less than a year later,
the race for the Democratic nomination is in the homestretch and victory
is in sight."
The biggest question
for Trump going into the night was whether his margin of victory would
be high enough to clinch most of New York's 95 delegates. CNN projects
Trump will clear the 50% threshold to take all of New York's 14
statewide delegates. He will need to win majorities in each of the
state's 27 congressional districts to win all of the remaining
delegates.
With
93% of the vote in at 12:15 a.m ET, Trump was in the lead at 60% while
Ohio Gov. John Kasich was at 25.2% and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was at 14.8%.
With 94% of the Democratic vote in, Clinton was leading Sanders 57.7% to 42.3%.
The
New York GOP primary confirmed the voter sentiments that have propelled
Trump's remarkable campaign. According to CNN exit polls, the
billionaire businessman was the overwhelming favorite among Republican
voters who said the next president should be "outside the
establishment," as well as those who are angry at or dissatisfied with
the federal government. More than 9 in 10 Republican voters who said a
presidential candidate's top quality is to "tell it like it is" backed
Trump.
In the Democratic contest,
exit polls also showed that Clinton drew support from demographic groups
that helped her in past races. She won 66% of voters 45 and older,
while Sanders was the favorite among younger voters, 18-44. Clinton also
once again dominated among minority voters, winning 75% of the
African-American vote and 64% of the Latino vote.
Trump's New York victory came at a pivotal moment for the front-runner.
Over
the past few weeks, Trump has come face-to-face with the Cruz
campaign's strong command of the complicated delegate allocation rules.
The GOP front-runner has expressed frustration as he's watched Cruz walk
away with victories and increase his delegate pile -- a sentiment that
boiled over after the Texas senator swept the Colorado Republican
convention earlier this month.
Cruz,
whose campaign acknowledged ahead of time that it may walk away from
New York with zero delegates, delivered remarks in Philadelphia Tuesday
night that sought to draw a contrast between himself and Trump and
emphasize party unity.
"I'm so
excited to share with you what America has learned over the past few
months, and it has nothing to do with a politician winning his home
state," Cruz said, calling 2016 the "year of the outsider."
"We
must unite the Republican Party because doing so is the first step
toward uniting all Americans," he added. "Let us unite on the things
that have always made us great."
Fearing
that the magic number of 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination
was becoming increasingly elusive, Trump sanctioned changes within his
operations ahead of the New York contest.
Across
the political aisle, the New York race came after Sanders had won eight
of the last nine Democratic contests -- a reality that the Vermont
senator has repeatedly touted on the campaign trail.
"I
think the Clinton campaign and the secretary are getting a little bit
nervous," Sanders told CNN after last week's particularly combative
Democratic debate in Brooklyn.
New York roots
Tuesday's contests were particularly significant for three of the candidates who have roots in New York.
Trump
is a Queens native and Manhattanite whose famous last name is featured
on real estate properties around the city. For Clinton, the race was
something of a homecoming: she was a New York senator for eight years,
owns a home in Chappaqua and her campaign headquarters is in Brooklyn.
And while Sanders has represented Vermont on Capitol Hill for decades,
he was born and raised in Brooklyn and has spoken fondly about his
upbringing in the borough.
Clinton
in particular appeared to delight in campaigning in the five boroughs
in recent days. She kept a packed schedule that included riding the
subway, drinking bubble tea and sampling dumplings in Brooklyn -- all
part of an effort to tour the city and mingle with its residents in
relatively casual settings.
Trump and Clinton spent Tuesday morning taking care of their first order of business: voting.
Trump
visited his polling station, the Central Synagogue three blocks east of
Trump Tower, where he cast a ballot for himself for the first time.
"It's a proud moment. It's a great moment. And who would've thought? It's just an honor," he told reporters.
New Yorkers in the spotlight
With
so much at stake for the two front-runners, Empire State voters on were
in the unusual position -- for the first time in decades -- of playing a
crucial role in the presidential nomination process.
Local political figures in both parties relished the state's rare moment in the spotlight of a presidential election.
"It's
been an unusual circumstance where New York is one of the deciding
factors in the Democratic race, so that's exciting," said Democratic
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz.
New
York State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox referred to the contests
here as his state's "New Hampshire moment" -- a reference to the New
England state's outsized role in the presidential primary.
"This
is what the New York state party needs. We need this kind of
excitement," Cox said. "We are indeed having our decisive moment in
selecting the next president of the United States."
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