Trump won three states on Tuesday, including the big prize Florida, but lost OH to that state’s governor, John Kasich.
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Florida and OH, the first winner-take-all states in the delegate race, are the two big prizes of the night for Republicans. In what Politico aptly called a “kill shot”, Donald Trump picked up a trouncing 45.8% in the Sunshine State, to the Florida Senator’s 27%.
Marco Rubio announced the suspension of his presidential campaign during a rally in Miami.
Trump now leads the delegate counts with 621 delegates, followed by Ted Cruz (396), Rubio (168) and Kasich (138). He’s hoping strong finishes in North Carolina, Illinois and Missouri, where his campaign manager is from, could give him a boost. “While we are on the right side this year, we will not be on the winning side”. The Ohio governor, after his Tuesday win insisted he was about substance and issues – not headlinegrabbing trash talk of the kind made popular in this election cycle by frontrunner Trump.
Although pundits were wondering if Bernie Sanders could pull off another upset like he did in Michigan, Hillary Clinton won four of Tuesday night’s five Democratic contests. A candidate is then officially nominated when they gain a majority of the delegates voting at the convention.
A For Mr Trump to be overtaken, the delegates would have to coalesce behind one of his remaining rivals, or a “white horse” candidate whose name can be entered at the convention itself.
Donald Trump on Wednesday said there could be riots if captures the most delegates in the Republican presidential primary but doesn’t become the nominee.
In her victory speech in Florida, Clinton said she was “moving closer to securing the Democratic nomination and winning this election in November”. That’s not good enough – it takes a majority of delegates to win the nomination, according to party rules.
Mr Trump said many of his supporters – disenfranchised Americans who normally steer clear of politics – were already seething about what they perceived as a political and economic system that was rigged against them.
Mr Cruz now has 397 delegates and Mr Kasich has 142.
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Addressing his supporters, Mr Rubio said: “While it is not God’s plan that I be president in 2016 or maybe ever, and while today my campaign is suspended, the fact that I’ve even come this far is evidence of how special America truly is”. Sanders did, however, manage to virtually tie Clinton in Missouri.
