Hillary Clinton won primaries in Florida, North Carolina and Ohio, the night's most contested prize, as her rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, struggled to get the boost he needed to try to close the gap in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. 
 
 Clinton also won a close contest in Illinois and was holding an extremely small margin in Missouri, with nearly all of the votes counted. With those contests so close, neither candidate will gain a significant edge from them in the race for delegates to the Democratic nominating convention this summer. Clinton's three big victories, by contrast, will give her a major gain. 
 
 “We are moving closer to securing the Democratic Party nomination and winning this election in November,” Clinton told supporters here, and she quickly moved to an attack on the Republican she expects to face in that election, Donald Trump, whom she accused of offering “bluster and bigotry.” 
 
 “Our next commander in chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass it; engage our allies, not alienate them,” she said. 
 
 “When we hear a candidate for president call for rounding up 12 million immigrants, barring all Muslims from entering the United States, when he embraces torture, that doesn't make him strong — it makes him wrong.” 
 
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 Clinton barely mentioned Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, except to briefly congratulate him for running a “vigorous campaign.” 
 
 If Sanders was chastened by the results, he didn't let it show while speaking to rapturous supporters in Phoenix. 
 
 “Do not settle for the status quo when the status quo is broken,” he said in a speech in which he showed no sign of easing up on Clinton. He once again attacked her vote in favor of the war in Iraq and demanded she release the transcripts of lucrative speeches to Wall Street firms. 
 
 Sanders had worked aggressively over the last week to expand a beachhead in the nation's industrial states after his upset victory in Michigan last week exposed new vulnerabilities for Clinton. 
 
 That set up Ohio as a key contest, where both candidates campaigned extensively and spent large amounts on television advertising. Clinton's victory there will go a long way toward solidifying her margin in the delegate race and reassuring her supporters. 
 
 Clinton's victory in North Carolina continued her sweep through the South, where black voters make up a big share of the Democratic electorate. And her decisive win in Florida, where she took nearly two-thirds of the vote, will net her a large majority of the state's 246 delegates to the Democratic convention — the third-largest delegation after California and New York. 
 
 The wins mean Clinton will significantly expand her already large lead among delegates to this summer's convention, building a margin of roughly 300 delegates over Sanders, without counting the roughly 400 so-called superdelegates who back her — party leaders and elected officials who automatically get convention votes. 
 
 After Tuesday, the math looks increasingly daunting for her rival, who now would need a series of very big victories in big states to catch up with Clinton's growing lead in the delegate race. 
 
 That does not, however, mean she has clinched the nomination. Under the Democrats' rules, which allocate delegates proportionately to each candidate's vote, Clinton probably won't be able to do that until the primary season ends in California in June. 
 
 In the Michigan upset last week, frustration among Midwestern Democrats with some of the free-trade policies Clinton has backed over the years, as well as with the Wall Street institutions whose recklessness helped push the nation into recession in 2007, emerged as a significant liability for the former secretary of State. 
 
 That anger shaped the campaigns in the three Midwestern states. Polls had indicated that all three could have close contests, and after the big miss by pollsters in Michigan, all of whom predicted a Clinton victory, both campaigns were wary of predictions. 
 
 Sanders' attacks on corporate America, particularly on trade, clearly connected with many voters. 
 
 “I believe in his change,” said Sanders supporter Mark Russell, 59, who stopped to vote in the Clintonville neighborhood of Columbus, near Ohio State University, on his way to work at Goodwill Industries. 
 
 “I believe that right now we're run by corporations,” he said. “It's not an even playing field, and it counts against us. I believe that he can do something about that. He's the only one that's really talking in that direction.” 
 
 Yet Sanders' effort to translate that sort of sentiment into votes came up short this time. 
 
 Clinton continues to do well with voters like Tampa resident Zachary Hines, 26, who value her years of preparation. 
 
 “She's the most prepared and experienced candidate to run for president in modern history,” said Hines, who works as a marketing director for a theater company. “I'm very excited to vote for the first woman president.” 
 
 Exit polls suggested voters were more confident in Clinton's agenda, with 77% in Ohio saying her policies were realistic, as opposed to 58% saying the same about Sanders' proposals. The divide was even bigger in Florida, where only 46% of voters expressed confidence that the Sanders agenda was realistic, according to exit polling conducted for the major television networks and the Associated Press. 
 
 Female voters came out in force for Clinton on Tuesday. She won 67% of them in Florida and 58% of them in Ohio, according to the exit poll. She also dominated with nonwhite voters in both states, winning 73% of them in Florida and 63% in Ohio. Seniors supported her by a margin of nearly 4 to 1 in both states. 
 
 Clinton had been eager to avenge a Michigan loss that some operatives attributed to poor strategic decisions and resource deployment by a campaign that had grown complacent after public polls that proved wildly misleading. 
 
 To ensure she did not repeat that defeat, Clinton redoubled her focus on the Midwest. 
 
 The former secretary of State, who has locked up almost every major national union endorsement, mobilized her labor supporters and stepped up her opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership, the trade deal negotiated by President Obama that is reviled by unions. ||||| Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonSanders poised to announce presidential campaign: report Transparency advocate group releases trove of hacked Russian documents Arson suspected at DC restaurant associated with 'Pizzagate' conspiracy MORE took a huge step toward clinching the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday with big victories in the swing states of Florida and Ohio. 
 
 Tuesday’s results also made a November showdown between Clinton and Republican front-runner Donald Trump Donald John TrumpStone: 'I’ve never had any discussion' with Trump about a pardon White House: Trump will move forward on wall 'with or without' Dems Pelosi after Stone indictment: 'What does Putin have on the president'? MORE more likely after the businessman won Florida’s winner-take-all GOP primary. 
 
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 The blemish for Trump was a loss in Ohio, where the state’s governor, John Kasich, won his first victory of the 2016 campaign — a win he desperately needed. 
 
 Still, Trump took home all 99 of Florida’s GOP delegates and in the process ended rival Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioThe Hill's 12:30 Report — Stone indicted in Mueller probe | Says he's not guilty | Day 35 of shutdown | FAA briefly halts flights into LaGuardia A crowded 2020 presidential primary field calls for ranked choice voting Omar, Tlaib come under fire from GOP MORE’s presidential campaign in his home state. The senator suspended his campaign shortly after 8 p.m., telling his supporters that it “is not God’s plan that I be president in 2016 or maybe ever.” 
 
 But the biggest victories went to Clinton. The former secretary of State’s defeat of Bernie Sanders Bernard (Bernie) SandersSanders poised to announce presidential campaign: report On The Money: Trump agrees to end shutdown without wall funding | Senate quickly clears short-term funding measure | House to vote tonight | Federal workers could get back pay within days | Dems take victory lap Shutdown ends without funding for Trump’s border wall MORE in Florida was widely expected, but her prize in Ohio was far from a sure thing. 
 
 “This was another super Tuesday for our campaign,” Clinton told cheering supporters in Florida. “Thank you, Florida, thank you, North Carolina and thank you, Ohio.” 
 
 Clinton then pivoted to Trump, criticizing his call for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, his proposed ban on Muslims entering the country and his call for the use of torture against suspected terrorists. 
 
 “When we hear a candidate for president call for rounding up 12 million immigrants, banning all Muslims from entering the United States, when he embraces torture, that doesn’t make him strong, it makes him wrong,” Clinton said. 
 
 “We should be bringing down barriers, not building walls,” she added. “You know, to be great, we can’t be small. We can’t lose what made America great in the first place.” 
 
 In Florida, Clinton won 65 percent of the vote compared to 33 percent for Sanders, with 99 percent of precincts counted. 
 
 The Sunshine State was the biggest prize of the night for Democrats, awarding 214 pledged delegates, and Clinton’s win means she will pad her already substantial delegate lead. 
 
 The Sanders campaign upset Clinton last week in Michigan and had hoped to steal another state away in Ohio with its anti-trade, anti-Wall Street message. 
 
 The results in the two swing states will do much to calm Democrats who have been unnerved by Sanders’s successes against Clinton, which had given ammunition to critics calling her a flawed candidate. 
 
 Clinton on Tuesday also added a victory in North Carolina, continuing a sweep of the South built on her popularity among African-American voters. She won in Illinois as well. 
 
 The wins move Clinton closer to winning the 2,383 delegates she needs to win the Democratic race, and could put her all but out of reach for the Vermont senator. 
 
 By late Tuesday evening, Clinton had 1,410 delegates, according to The Associated Press, which includes unbound superdelegates, and she was likely to add to that tally by the end of the night by winning delegates in the Missouri primary, which remained too close to call. 
 
 Things weren’t quite as clear-cut on the Republican side, though Trump underlined his status as the party’s front-runner with a significant win in Florida and victories in North Carolina and Illinois. 
 
 Trump won about 46 percent of the Florida vote, compared to 27 percent for Rubio. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzA crowded 2020 presidential primary field calls for ranked choice voting Bennet: Washington politics have been 'tyrannized' by Freedom Caucus, Cruz NASA space center asking employees to volunteer to clean bathrooms during shutdown MORE had 17 percent. 
 
 "We have something happening that actually makes the Republican Party the biggest political story anywhere in the world," the celebrity billionaire said in Palm Beach, Fla. 
 
 "Millions of people are coming out to vote. ... I think we're going to have a great victory." 
 
 The Florida result was a stunning defeat for Rubio that will raise questions about his political future. The senator decided against running for reelection to pursue his White House bid and will now return to the upper chamber as a lame duck. 
 
 In his speech to supporters but without naming Trump, Rubio decried the nasty rhetoric and personal insults that have dominated Republicans’ 2016 campaign. 
 
 “While this may not have been the year for a hopeful or optimistic message about our future, I still remain hopeful and optimistic about America,” he said. “I ask the American people, do not give in to fear. Do not give into frustration.” 
 
 Missouri also hosted a GOP contest Tuesday but remained too close to call definitively with nearly 100 percent of the vote in on both sides. Both Clinton and Trump were ahead by less than 1 percentage point. Sanders and Cruz, who was right behind Trump, could both call for recounts. 
 
 Kasich’s win in Ohio was good news for those who want to prevent Trump from clinching the nomination before the party’s national convention this July in Cleveland. 
 
 Trump would need to win about 60 percent of the remaining delegates to get to the 1,237 he needs. 
 
 Cruz has been calling for the other candidates to drop out of the race to give him an opportunity to go after Trump one-on-one. 
 
 On Tuesday, it appeared he would have to wait longer for such a scenario after Kasich’s win in Ohio. 
 
 Updated at 1:44 a.m. ||||| The Fix's Philip Bump explains why a contested convention still might not be a realistic path forward for Bernie Sanders. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) 
 
 With the Democratic presidential nomination system working the way it does, there are essentially two possible outcomes: A candidate will either win in a blowout, or he or she will need superdelegate votes to gain a majority. 
 
 The reason for this is simple: Fifteen percent of all of the Democratic delegates are unbound superdelegates. So unless you have about an 18 percentage-point lead among delegates by the time the voting wraps up, you'll need some superdelegates to put you over the top. This makes the difference between a close race and a blowout a little murky — which can be advantageous to the underdog. 
 
 Right now, Hillary Clinton has about a 10 percentage-point delegate lead over Bernie Sanders. (For comparison: Barack Obama's pledged delegate lead was only about four percentage points by the end of the 2008 race.) The current margin is not likely to change much between now and the end of the contest, with the two likely to play to a draw in California, Clinton to win big in New Jersey and D.C., and Sanders to triumph in smaller states between now and the end of the race. For it to change significantly in Sanders's favor, he'd need to do very, very well in California and New Jersey in particular, a promise that he has issued often and delivered rarely. 
 
 One of the things that Sanders has been very good at, though, is conveying a convincing depiction of a guy who's going to come from behind and win this thing, even as he has continued to trail badly or dropped further behind. During a news conference in Washington on Sunday marking the first anniversary of his campaign launch, Sanders insisted that the math above means that the Democrats were headed to a "contested convention," leveraging the now-common language of the ferocious (and unsettled) Republican contest to paint his own contest as similarly unsettled. 
 
 "It is virtually impossible for Secretary Clinton to reach the majority of convention delegates by June 14 with pledged delegates alone," he said. "She will need superdelegates to take her over the top at the convention in Philadelphia. In other words, the convention will be a contested contest." 
 
 That's true — mostly because, unlike in 2008, Sanders will contest it. Eight years ago, Clinton conceded the race before the convention, recognizing that trying to fight her way to victory on the convention floor was likely to fail, despite her having a slight lead in the popular vote. But Clinton realized the damage that could be done to the party — and perhaps herself — so she didn't. 
 
 Sanders doesn't share the former sentiment, as he has made clear. He was an independent until he decided to run for president, and his goal during his campaign has been to upend the system, into which a convention floor fight fits neatly. 
 
 But that doesn't mean he has any real shot at winning. 
 
 Sanders, like Clinton, needs superdelegates to win. Even if it were he who led by 10 percentage-points among pledged delegates, he'd need them. So let's consider his arguments for why they should give him their votes. 
 
 1 of 42 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Highlights from Bernie Sanders’s campaign, in pictures View Photos The senator from Vermont is Hillary Clinton’s rival in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. Caption The senator from Vermont is Hillary Clinton’s rival in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. June 14, 2016 Bernie Sanders arrives at the Capital Hilton to meet with Hillary Clinton in D.C. Matt McClain/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 The "momentum" argument 
 
 Back in the halcyon days of Sanders's "momentum," when he'd won seven of eight contests in a row, including a big win in Washington, his argument was that the momentum would propel him through the end of the voting in June, offering a compelling argument to superdelegates that the will of the party now rested with him, and that Clinton's early support was therefore negated. Then he lost five of the last six races — and Clinton's delegate lead returned to about what it was in the middle of March. The momentum was, as many had suspected, a function of several Sanders-favorable races clustered in a short window (as was the recent streak by Clinton). The race hadn't really changed at all. 
 
 Now, it seems, Sanders's argument will be that his strong performances at the tail end of the contest, including a win in California — coupled with close national polling — should provide the same motivation to superdelegates to embrace his candidacy. Sanders is who the party now wants to win. 
 
 There are a few flaws in that argument, including that Sanders's one-point deficit in the national Real Clear Politics polling average — which came right after those seven wins — has now widened to four points. The biggest problem for Sanders, though, is that, unlike on the Republican side, California isn't the last contest. The last contest for the Democrats is the D.C. primary, on June 14. And there is essentially no way that Clinton will lose that contest, given how strongly she has performed in places with large black populations. 
 
 Meaning that the last voting will almost certainly reinforce Clinton's dominance — while reminding superdelegates why Clinton has such a big lead: black voters. It is black voters who helped Clinton run up huge wins in New York and Maryland last week, on March 15 and in southern states before that. D.C. will almost certainly make that point once again, with emphasis. 
 
 The pledged delegate argument 
 
 On CBS on Sunday, Sanders insisted that his campaign might still win the majority of pledged delegates. "We need to win 65 percent of those votes," he said of the remaining total. "The states coming up are favorable to us." 
 
 The problem for Sanders is, as it has always been, that Democratic contests are all proportional. He needs to win every state by a wide margin to hit his goal. The other problem for him is that nearly half of the remaining delegates are in California. If he and Clinton essentially tie there — or even if he wins by five points, which polling suggests won't happen — he needs three-quarters of the delegates everywhere else to make up for it (including New Jersey and D.C.). 
 
 Could he win pledged delegates? Yes, in the sense that he could win the lottery. 
 
 Superdelegates should vote the way their states did 
 
 During the news conference, Sanders suggested that superdelegates had an obligation to reflect the will of the voters in their states. 
 
 "Those superdelegates in states where either Secretary Clinton or myself has won a landslide victory — those superdelegates ought to seriously reflect on whether they should cast their superdelegate vote in line with the wishes of the people of their states," he said. He notes Washington in particular, a state with 17 superdelegates and a state he won by a large margin. 
 
 We looked at this a few weeks ago. Mandating that superdelegates in a state back the candidate who won narrows Clinton's lead, but doesn't erase it. If you mandate that the superdelegates be divvied up proportionally, the margin for Clinton narrows further. But, in the same way that she still has a lead in pledged delegates because of proportional distribution, she has a lead with superdelegates, too. 
 
 So none of those arguments is terribly strong. But even if they were more solid, there's a simple rebuttal to Sanders for which he has offered no real response: He's trailing in actual votes by an insurmountable margin. 
 
 Before Clinton's big wins in New York and the Northeast, our fact-checkers pegged her actual vote lead at 2.4 million. She got nearly 300,000 more votes in New York, 250,000 in Maryland and 200,000 in Pennsylvania. Sanders won Rhode Island, clawing back 14,000 votes. But Clinton now has well over 3 million more votes than Sanders. 
 
 What Sanders is asking superdelegates to do is ignore that lead. His supporters have a surfeit of unsubstantiated explanations for this gap (such as voter fraud), but it's not complicated. Clinton leads because more people voted for her. In 2008, Obama led because of strategic delegate accumulation; that's not why Clinton leads now. 
 
 Sanders asks that superdelegates set aside that the choices of those voters — many or most of them black — because he did well in Washington and maybe is close in national polling. It's impossible to see whom that will convince. 
 
 It's true that Sanders and Clinton are headed to a contested convention, if Sanders wants it. That doesn't mean, as it would on the Republican side, that the outcome is up in the air. Sanders's campaign slashed its staff as it announced that, for the first time this year, it didn't crush Clinton in fundraising. For there to be a contested convention, Sanders would need to convince his base that he can win one — and therefore to keep funding his efforts through California. He's welcome to do that; they're welcome to keep giving. 
 
 But what's going to happen at that convention is not much of a mystery. ||||| Republican front-runner Donald Trump spoke in Palm Beach, Fla., after primary voters took to the polls in five states: Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri and North Carolina. (Reuters) 
 
 Republican front-runner Donald Trump spoke in Palm Beach, Fla., after primary voters took to the polls in five states: Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri and North Carolina. (Reuters) 
 
 It was a good night for Donald Trump and an even better night for Hillary Clinton. On one of the most important days of the primary season, the two front-runners continued what has become an inexorable march to their party’s presidential nominations and a general election matchup that was unimagined when this campaign began. 
 
 For Clinton, it was a night to bounce back after her surprising defeat in Michigan at the hands of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont last week. She did so in stunning fashion. With questions swirling about her candidacy, Clinton answered her critics with a series of victories that padded a lead in delegates that now has become almost insurmountable. 
 
 For Trump, it was a night in which he won at least three states and sent one rival, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, to the sidelines. But Trump was unable to put away a second, Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Like Clinton, the New York billionaire added to his delegate lead over Kasich and his nearest competitor, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. But the overall results still left open the prospect that the GOP nomination will not be decided until the party assembles in July in Cleveland for its national convention. 
 
 The night broke early in Clinton’s direction as she rolled to an overwhelming victory in Florida and followed that quickly with wins in North Carolina and Ohio. Early Wednesday, she added Illinois to her column. The first two were expected, given the makeup of the electorates in those states. Ohio’s demographics were close enough to those in Michigan to give Sanders hope of a repeat victory, but Clinton’s success dashed those hopes and blunted whatever momentum he had enjoyed. 
 
 The Ohio results represented a back-breaking blow to Sanders. His populist, anti-establishment insurgency has fired the energies of the party’s grass-roots progressives, and there is little doubt that he has both the determination and the resources to keep fighting. His campaign has accomplished far more than almost anyone anticipated and he has shaped the issue agenda and the dialogue in the Democratic nomination contest. 
 
 Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton spoke to supporters in West Palm Beach, Fla., after primary voters took to the polls in five states: Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri and North Carolina. (Reuters) 
 
 For all those assets, Sanders has fallen behind in the unforgiving arithmetic of the way Democrats choose their nominees. Clinton’s lead has been built by taking advantage of states where the demographics tilt heavily in her favor, particularly those with substantial populations of African Americans, while holding Sanders close in the states he has won. 
 
 Clinton holds a lead of nearly 300 pledged delegates, those determined by the results of the primaries and caucuses. That is a bigger lead in pledged delegates than then-Sen. Barack Obama had in his epic battle against Clinton eight years ago. Her lead among so-called super delegates — party leaders and elected officials — is even more overwhelming. 
 
 Because Democrats award pledged delegates proportionally, Sanders needs not only a string of victories but also popular vote margins large enough to pick up delegates in bushel baskets, contest by contest. For those who have questioned the quality of Clinton’s campaign, there’s no doubting the effectiveness of her delegate-focused strategy. 
 
 Clinton’s victory speech in Florida gave the clearest sense so far that she now feels confident about how the nomination will end. Her message was aimed at a general-election contest against Trump. She excoriated the Republican front-runner repeatedly, drawing attention to what she called his negative and divisive campaign. 
 
 Trump’s victories were another reminder of his ability to overcome adversity. For the past five days he has been on the defensive, criticized for encouraging violence against protesters at his rallies. He also was the target of millions of dollars in negative ads in Florida. In the face of that, he swamped Rubio in Rubio’s home state and won North Carolina and Illinois, as well. 
 
 Trump was very much on the mind of Kasich, when he appeared before supporters and promised he would not take a low road to the highest office in the land. Kasich was winless until Tuesday night, and Ohio was a make-or-break test. His ebullience was emblematic of his personality but also underscored Kasich’s relief — and perhaps surprise — that he is now one of three remaining candidates for the GOP nomination. 
 
 Kasich’s path ahead is still perilous. His belief is that the victory in Ohio will fundamentally change the dynamic of the GOP race and that the anti-Trump forces will begin to coalesce around him now that Rubio is out. But there are few states that offer obvious victories. 
 
 1 of 40 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × What primary day looked like in Fla., Ill., Mo., N.C. and Ohio View Photos Voters in five states cast their ballets during primaries today. Caption Voters in five states cast their ballets during primaries today. March 15, 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign news conference at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 There is no way he can win a majority before Cleveland, and it’s almost certain that he will not even be the delegate leader by the time the primaries and caucuses end. His real hope for winning the nomination is to seize the prize at the convention in Cleveland. He needs time, and enough victories, to prove his worth and then rely on a deadlocked convention to choose him to prevent Trump from becoming the nominee. 
 
 Kasich has yet to prove he is a long-distance runner. That is not the case with Cruz, who like Trump is emblematic of the strength of the outsiders in the Republican race. The Texas senator was at risk of ending the night without a victory, with his last hope coming in Missouri, where he and Trump were in a tight race. The results left him even further behind Trump in delegates. 
 
 Cruz could yet become the true challenger to Trump. His campaign has even sketched out a scenario under which he would end up with more delegates than Trump heading into the convention. But that depends on his ability to corner Trump in a one-on-one battle in the remaining states. 
 
 Some national polls have shown that when matched head-to-head against Trump, Cruz enjoys more support. That is the foundation on which the Cruz camp is building its strategy for winning the nomination. His advisers see plenty of opportunities ahead and anticipate a big day on June 7, the final day of the primaries, when the biggest prize is California and its 172 delegates. 
 
 But that strategy suffered a setback on Tuesday when Kasich won Ohio. Cruz’s advisers no doubt were privately pulling for Trump to do to Kasich what he did to Rubio. The Texas senator can ill afford a revived Kasich candidacy. 
 
 Cruz’s team also is confident that they can outperform Trump’s campaign in the combat that will take place at state party conventions over the coming weeks. It will be at those conventions that the delegates will be named. Cruz’s team will work every angle possible to fill slots with friendly delegates, even if many are pledged to Trump on the first ballot in Cleveland. 
 
 The establishment so far has failed to stop Trump and is now dependent on Kasich to do so. Cruz and his advisers are still trying to isolate Trump to give their strategy the ultimate test. They hope that even establishment Republicans rally behind the Texas senator now that the race is down to three. 
 
 Meanwhile, Trump is winning. He wins states, and he wins delegates. He has won in every region of the country, and his appeal to Republicans continues to be cross-cutting. It becomes ever harder to deny him the nomination. ||||| Republican front-runner Donald Trump and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton sparred over the "woman card" and Sen. Bernie Sanders, after Trump won presidential primaries in five states and Clinton won four on April 26. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) 
 
 Voters in five states stretching from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast went to the polls on Tuesday. At the presidential level, Donald Trump crushed his two remaining competitors, while Hillary Clinton took four of the five states in play, extending her delegate lead over Bernie Sanders. 
 
 I picked some winners and some losers from the night that was. They're below. 
 
 Winners 
 
 • Donald Trump: This was an an absolutely sweeping across-the-board victory for the real estate mogul. From a delegate perspective, this may wind up being Trump's single best night of the primary process. His massive wins in Connecticut and Maryland help him run up the delegate score. His big margin in Pennsylvania should be a persuasive argument for the 54 unbound delegates the state sends to the Republican National Convention. And what's clear is that Trump is getting stronger and stronger as the race moves to Indiana on May 3, a state that the anti-Trump forces now must win in order to blunt his momentum heading into the critical California primary on June 7. If Trump wins Indiana, the race will be all but over. 
 
 The simple fact is this: Trump just keeps winning and, increasingly, winning across all subgroups and demographics within the GOP. He still isn't a numeric lock to get to the 1,237 delegates he needs. But man oh man is he sitting pretty right now. 
 
 • Hillary Clinton: Five more states came off the table Tuesday night -- including big delegate prizes in Pennsylvania and Maryland -- and Clinton remains in a commanding delegate position over Sanders. Clinton and her team are reluctant to call the race over for fear of angering Sanders supporters. And the race will keep going all the way through California in early June. But, for all intents and purposes, this one is over. To quote MSNBC's Rachel Maddow: "She has effectively put this out of reach." 
 
 In her victory speech, Clinton praised Sanders and his supporters and savaged Republicans as deeply out of touch with the needs of middle class Americans. Expect more and more of that in the coming days as Clinton continues her primary pivot and begins to focus full time on Trump. 
 
 • Chris Van Hollen: All the Maryland congressman does is win tough Democratic primaries. He did it when he won his House seat in 2002 by defeating Mark Shriver, a member of the Kennedy clan, and he did it again on Tuesday when he beat back a challenge from fellow Rep. Donna Edwards. The race was deeply bifurcated along racial lines, but Van Hollen won the white vote more convincingly than Edwards won the black vote. Given Maryland's deeply Democratic nature, Van Hollen will roll in the fall general election and will likely never need to worry about reelection again. Look for him to quickly move up the ranks of Senate Democrats and eventually land in a leadership position; Van Hollen is a rare pol who understands not only politics and policy but also how those two are deeply intertwined. He's a rising star within the party. 
 
 • MSNBC cutaways to Bill Clinton during Hillary Clinton's speech: Whoever was producing that speech deserves a raise. During almost every Hillary Clinton applause line, the camera cut to the former president in the crowd. Bill looked somewhere between proud and bemused throughout. It was awesome political theater -- and the sort of stuff I absolutely love. 
 
 Losers 
 
 • Ted Cruz: I am somewhat baffled as to why the Texas senator continues to get something of a pass from the party (and the media) for finishing not second but third behind Trump and John Kasich in a bunch of these mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states. Remember that Cruz is now the de facto establishment candidate. And that Kasich has won a total of one state and has fewer delegates than Marco Rubio, who left the race in March. Soooo.... If I might quote that great philosopher Ric Flair: If you want to be the man, you have to beat the man. I'd even be open to modifying that Flair-ism to: If you want to be the man, you have to come in second to the man. 
 
 My point is that if Cruz is the only true viable alternative to Trump -- and he is -- then why the heck is he not only getting blown out by The Donald but losing to Kasich? Momentum matters to Cruz. And, as of Wednesday morning, Cruz will be at a dead stop. Look for him to pull out all the stops he has to get restarted. 
 
 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders held a campaign rally in Huntington, W.Va., following primary elections in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. (Reuters) 
 
 • Bernie Sanders: It's not a question of if Sanders loses now, it's a question of when he decides to leave the race -- and what he wants as a parting gift. Presumably that will be some major influence over the party platform at the convention (unlikely) and/or a prominent speaking role at that convention (likely). The thing to watch now is whether Sanders tempers his rhetoric against Clinton, a tacit acknowledgment that the math is close to conclusive, or whether he keeps going at her hammer and tongs. His most ardent supporters -- are there any other kind when it comes to Sanders? -- won't want him to pull any punches. How much does he listen to them? And how much should he? 
 
 • Mike Pence: The Indiana governor has avoided wading into the presidential race to date, and he signaled Tuesday night that he has no immediate plans to make an endorsement. The reason is simple: Politics -- both in the near term and long term for Pence. In the near term, Pence is up for a second term this fall and doesn't want to make any part of the GOP base in his state angry. In the long term, Pence would like to be a national candidate and, again, doesn't want to piss off the Trump wing of the party. But, the "stop Trump" forces are going to push Pence like crazy over the next 48 hours for him to get behind Cruz; "Governor Pence, It’s Time to Take a Stand" reads a National Review op-ed posted Tuesday night. There's more where that came from. 
 
 
 
 Mike Pence, sad. (AP Photo/AJ Mast) 
 
 • Jeff Merkley: The Oregon Democrat is the only senator not named Bernie Sanders who has endorsed the Vermont socialist's presidential campaign. That means that when cable TV is looking for a surrogate to represent Sanders, Merkley gets the call. That can be a good thing -- raising Merkley's profile! -- but on Tuesday night it was a very bad thing. Moments after the terrific Steve Kornacki had run through the virtual impossibility of Sanders catching Clinton in pledged delegates, the MSNBC election night hosts threw it to Merkley to defend his candidate. After acknowledging that the math was getting more and more difficult for Sanders, Merkley tried to pivot to note that the national race is tightening. Which, of course, doesn't matter at all in a state by state race for delegates. Oomph. 
 
 • Trump's sound guy: Look, I am no advance guy or audio expert, but I do know this: When the candidate gets to the microphone and tries to start talking, you should turn off the music. And that you need to make sure the microphones work when Trump takes questions from reporters. Which puts me two steps ahead of Trump's sound guy at Trump Tower on Tuesday night. ||||| Heidi Cruz, wife of Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, talks with supporters during a campaign stop at Lincoln Square Pancake House, Tuesday, May 3, 2016, in Westfield, Ind. (AP... (Associated Press) 
 
 Heidi Cruz, wife of Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, talks with supporters during a campaign stop at Lincoln Square Pancake House, Tuesday, May 3, 2016, in Westfield, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on campaign 2016 as voters in Indiana head to the polls for the state primary (all times Eastern): 
 
 10:43 p.m. 
 
 Bernie Sanders netted about a half-dozen more delegates than Hillary Clinton after winning Indiana Tuesday. But in terms of the delegate math, his path to the Democratic nomination hasn't gotten any easier. 
 
 Clinton is now 92 percent of the way to clinching the Democratic nomination. 
 
 With 83 Indiana delegates at stake, Sanders will gain at least 43. Clinton picked up at least 37. Three delegates remain to be allocated, pending final vote tallies. 
 
 That means based on primaries and caucuses to date, Clinton now has 1,682 and Sanders has 1,361. 
 
 Clinton's lead is bigger when including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate. 
 
 She has 2,202, or 181 delegates away from the 2,383 needed to win, keeping her on track to clinch the nomination by early June. Sanders has 1,400. 
 
 If he still hopes to win the nomination, Sanders would need to win more than 84 percent of the remaining delegates and superdelegates. 
 
 ___ 
 
 10:40 p.m. 
 
 Donald Trump has a clear path to the Republican nomination for president, but he still has some work to do to clinch it. 
 
 Mathematically, Trump cannot reach the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination until June 7, the last day of the primary season. 
 
 He needs just 42 percent of the remaining delegates to get there. His chances are good. 
 
 Trump's last remaining rival, John Kasich, has won just one state, his home state of Ohio. Since then, Kasich has collected a total of nine delegates. 
 
 Kasich is fourth in the race for delegates, behind Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who have suspended their campaigns. 
 
 Trump won at least 51 delegates in Indiana, with six delegates remaining. 
 
 The AP delegate count: 
 
 Trump: 1,047. 
 
 Cruz: 565. 
 
 Kasich: 152. 
 
 ___ 
 
 10:30 p.m. 
 
 Donald Trump Jr. is describing his father's emergence as the presumptive Republican nominee as "surreal." 
 
 Trump's son says he was with his father, watching TV with the rest of their family when the news that rival Ted Cruz was dropping out of the race broke. 
 
 "I think it was just sort of a collective, 'Wow.' I don't think there were a lot of words spoken," he describes. "I think we're just incredibly shocked." 
 
 Trump Jr. says they'd assumed Trump's rivals would "be in it all the way 'til the end." 
 
 He says his father's message is now focused on "party unity, bring everyone together. Let's focus on the real prize." 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:50 p.m. 
 
 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders tells The Associated Press that he has won a "great upset victory" in Indiana over rival Hillary Clinton and he expects "more victories in the weeks to come." 
 
 The Vermont senator said Tuesday "the Clinton campaign thinks this campaign is over. They're wrong." 
 
 He said he has an "uphill climb" to the nomination but he's "in this campaign to win and we are going to fight until the last vote is cast." 
 
 Sanders said he wants to debate Clinton in California. 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:40 p.m. 
 
 And then there were two. A strategist for Donald Trump's remaining rival, John Kasich, says the Ohio governor will continue his fight for the Republican nomination until the end. 
 
 John Weaver said in a statement Tuesday that "as long as it remains possible. Gov. Kasich will fight for the higher path." 
 
 GOP candidate Ted Cruz ended his bid for the nomination Tuesday following a crushing defeat in Indiana's primary. Kasich was running a distant third in the race before Cruz suspended his campaign. 
 
 Weaver said "Cruz ran a strong campaign, stood for conservative principles, and exposed a lot about Donald Trump." 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:35 p.m. 
 
 Donald Trump is telling supporters in New York that Hillary Clinton "will be a poor president." 
 
 Trump, who struck a far more somber tone Tuesday than in his rallies, saluted Ted Cruz, his former Republican rival, who suspended his campaign earlier in the night, and shifted his attention instead to his likely opponent in the general election. 
 
 Trump said Cruz's decision was "a brave thing to do" in the name of party unity. 
 
 He also saluted the Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, who Trump joked had started the primary process "with 17 egos" ?— the number of GOP candidates —? and was now "down to one." 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:25 p.m. 
 
 Donald Trump is shifting his focus to Hillary Clinton. 
 
 The Republican front-runner addressed supporters at Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday night after his chief Republican rival, Ted Cruz dropped out. The announcement came after Trump scored his seventh consecutive victory in Indiana. 
 
 He called Cruz "one hell of a competitor," calling his decision to drop out of the race "brave." 
 
 He said that while he wasn't sure if Cruz likes him, he praised his former rival as a "smart" and "tough guy" who had an "amazing future" ahead of him. 
 
 Trump then quickly turned his attention to his likely Democratic opponent in the general election. 
 
 Trump says, "We're going after Hillary Clinton." 
 
 The New York billionaire criticized Clinton's recent comments about the coal industry. He says she wants to close mines and he promised to help coal miners get back to work. 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:23 p.m. 
 
 Bernie Sanders is the winner of Indiana's Democratic primary, scoring a late victory over front-runner Hillary Clinton. 
 
 But it's a win that won't change the reality of the Democratic race. 
 
 The Vermont senator is far behind the former secretary of state in the delegate count. He won't win by a large enough margin Tuesday to keep Clinton from collecting at least some delegates. 
 
 Clinton entered the night with 91 percent of the delegates she needs to become the first woman nominated by a major party. 
 
 __ 
 
 9:05 p.m. 
 
 The chairman of the Republican National Committee is calling for unity, saying that Donald Trump will be the "presumptive" Republican nominee for president. 
 
 Reince Priebus took to Twitter Tuesday after Ted Cruz ended his bid for the GOP nomination, saying that Donald Trump "will be presumptive @GOP nominee, we need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton." He ended his message with the hashtag #NeverClinton. 
 
 Trump is due to speak at the Trump Tower in New York City later Tuesday. 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:55 p.m. 
 
 Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump's campaign staff and supporters are exchanging hugs and handshakes as rival Ted Cruz formally announced his exit from the race. 
 
 Trump's team gathered at his Trump Tower in New York City Tuesday where the Republican front-runner is scheduled to speak shortly. 
 
 Cheers broke out in the building's grand lobby as a television broadcasting Cruz's speech announced his departure from the race. 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:20 p.m. 
 
 Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is ending his presidential campaign, eliminating the biggest impediment to Donald Trump's march to the Republican nomination. 
 
 Cruz's campaign said he plans to drop out of the race Tuesday following his loss in Indiana's Republican primary to Trump. 
 
 Cruz's campaign placed its hopes on a data-driven effort to turn out conservative evangelical Christians who had opted out of recent presidential elections. Increasingly, he would modify his travel schedule to go where data showed there might be pockets of untapped supporters. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:41 p.m. 
 
 Donald Trump is thanking voters in Indiana after his big win in the state's Republican presidential primary. 
 
 Trump took to Twitter Tuesday, shortly after his big win which gives him a big boost toward reaching the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination. 
 
 "Thank you Indiana," Trump wrote. "We have won in every category. You are very special people-I will never forget!" 
 
 Trump's win dealt a big blow to rival Ted Cruz, who had poured time and resources into the state, which is home to a significant evangelical population. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:40 p.m. 
 
 Bernie Sanders is steering clear of Indiana's primary, opening his rally in Kentucky on Tuesday night by pointing to his progress in the Democratic presidential campaign. 
 
 Sanders isn't making any predictions about the outcome of Tuesday's primary in Indiana, saying instead that he has closed the big lead that Hillary Clinton had when he started his campaign a year ago. 
 
 Sanders says in Louisville he's winning the vote of people age 45 and under. He says that shows that his campaign is fighting for the ideas that are important to the future of the country "and the future of the Democratic party." 
 
 Sanders traveled the state and spent about $1.5 million in advertising in Indiana against Clinton. The former secretary of state did not air TV ads and did not campaign extensively in Indiana. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:20 p.m. 
 
 As Donald Trump celebrates his win in Indiana's presidential primary, Democratic candidates are awaiting to hear who will walk away with most of the state's Democratic delegates. 
 
 Becky Hollenberg, a 32-year-old attorney with the YWCA in Elkhart where she helps people get protective orders against their abusers, said she voted for front-runner Hillary Clinton. 
 
 "I think she has good experience. I think she's really going to be able to be the good leader for the country that we're looking for," Hollenberg said. 
 
 Hollenberg also said many of the people she works with through the YWCA need better-paying jobs. She also likes how Clinton promotes women's rights. 
 
 Ben Swisher, 41, of Indianapolis stopped at the Broad Ripple Park Family Center in Indianapolis to vote for Bernie Sanders, saying he likes that the senator from Vermont hasn't taken a lot of money from big corporations. 
 
 "I've found that a lot of the decisions the government has made in the last several years ... have been based on what would benefit a large corporation and not the American people in general," he said. 
 
 Polls closed at 7 p.m. Eastern but the winner of the Democratic primary is not yet known. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:05 p.m. 
 
 Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is holding an Indiana primary party inside Indianapolis's ornate Union Station, but only about a third of the available space was occupied with his backers. 
 
 The smaller than usual election night crowd Tuesday was subdued as they awaited Cruz, once breaking out into boos and chants of "Never Trump!" when a pro-Trump ad came on TV in the hall. 
 
 Donald Trump has won the state primary, clinching at least 45 delegates, putting him on a solid path to the nomination. 
 
 Cruz's campaign switched from showing televised election results on a big screen to an internal TV feed as the race was called for Trump. Country singer Dierks Bentley's song "I'll Hold On" played in the hall as his supporters chatted, ate snacks and drank. 
 
 Cruz is due to address his supporters shortly. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:01 p.m. 
 
 Donald Trump will collect at least 45 delegates for his victory in Indiana, putting him on a solid path to clinch the nomination and avoid a contested convention. 
 
 There are still 12 delegates left to be allocated. 
 
 Trump needs to win just 43 percent of the remaining delegates to capture the nomination by the end of the primaries on June 7. 
 
 He has won a majority of the delegates allocated so far. 
 
 Trump's rivals, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, have been mathematically eliminated from reaching the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination before the convention. Their only hope is to block Trump and force a contested convention in which no one arrives with a majority of the delegates. 
 
 The AP delegate count: 
 
 Trump: 1,041. 
 
 Cruz: 565. 
 
 Kasich: 152. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:00 p.m. 
 
 Donald Trump has won the Republican presidential primary in Indiana, continuing his surge toward clinching the GOP nomination. 
 
 The win for Trump is a blow to Ted Cruz, who will fall further behind the billionaire in the race for the 1,237 delegates needed to claim the Republican nomination. 
 
 Among his supporters Tuesday was Roger Willett, a 51-year-old Republican who says he has been a Trump supporter since the businessman's campaign began. 
 
 Willett works as a driver escorting oversize truck loads and complained that the economy in rural western Indiana offers few prospects, particularly for people just getting out of school. He says he's tired of voting for career politicians and called Trump "a working man, for us." 
 
 ___ 
 
 5:18 p.m. 
 
 The economy is weighing heavily on the minds of Indiana voters as they cast ballots in their state's primary election. 
 
 More than 9 in 10 Republican primary voters and more than 8 in 10 Democratic primary voters are either very or somewhat worried about the economy, according to early results from exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research. 
 
 Asked about some specific economic issues, two-thirds of Democratic primary voters say Wall Street mostly hurts the economy. And they're evenly divided over whether trade with other countries mostly helps or hurts the American economy. 
 
 ___ 
 
 5:12 p.m. 
 
 Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have both attacked their parties' nomination processes. They've also gone after their opponents for what they say are unfair tactics. But Indiana voters on both sides don't see much of a fairness gap in the presidential race. 
 
 Only a third of GOP voters say their party's nomination process has been unfair, according to early results from exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research. 
 
 When it comes to tactics, most Democratic primary voters don't see either Sanders or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as having attacked the other unfairly. 
 
 Republican primary voters were about equally likely to say that each of the top two candidates ran the most unfair campaign. Four in 10 voters say Trump did, while four in 10 say Texas Sen. Ted Cruz did. 
 
 ___ 
 
 5:04 p.m. 
 
 Indiana Democrats voting in the state's primary election say they've been energized by their party's nominating process, while most GOP voters say their party has been divided by the political sparring among their top candidates. 
 
 That's according to early results from exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research. 
 
 Three-quarters of Indiana Democrats in Tuesday's election say they think the nominating process has energized rather than divided their party. But nearly 6 in 10 Republicans say they think their party has been divided by the nominating process. 
 
 About 7 in 10 Democrats say they'd be excited or at least optimistic about the presidency of either former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. 
 
 But only about half of Indiana GOP voters are excited or even optimistic about billionaire Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or Ohio Gov. John Kasich becoming president. 
 
 Still, most GOP primary voters say they would probably support Trump, Cruz or Kasich in November. 
 
 ___
– Bernie Sanders didn't lose the Democratic race on Tuesday night, but with big wins for Hillary Clinton in Ohio and at least three other states, he lost the momentum from his surprise win in Michigan and fell further behind in the delegate count. Analysts say that although the senator plans to keep his campaign going, Clinton could now be impossible to catch. A roundup of coverage: Sanders is now more than 300 pledged delegates behind Clinton, which may be an insurmountable margin, reports Politico, which describes his candidacy as a "teetering Jenga pile of youth support, momentum, and access to online millions"—now minus the "buttressing block" of Ohio. Tuesday night's results were a huge setback for Sanders, who had been counting on wins in the Midwest to keep his candidacy viable, reports the New York Times, which notes that Clinton's delegate lead over Sanders is about triple the size of the lead Obama had over her at this stage in 2008. The Washington Post also declares the race all but over for Sanders, calling Ohio a "back-breaking blow" that makes it nearly impossible for him to catch Clinton—though he clearly "has both the determination and the resources to keep fighting," and his campaign has already "accomplished far more than almost anyone anticipated." Sanders would need a "series of very big victories in big states" to catch up at this point, the Los Angeles Times reports, but because of how delegates are allocated, Clinton is still unlikely to clinch the nomination before California votes in June. In her primary night speech, Clinton praised Sanders' "vigorous campaign," but her focus was Donald Trump. "When we hear a candidate for president call for rounding up 12 million immigrants, banning all Muslims from entering the United States, when he embraces torture, that doesn't make him strong, it makes him wrong," she said, per the Hill. "We should be bringing down barriers, not building walls," she continued. "You know, to be great, we can't be small. We can't lose what made America great in the first place." Sanders probably can't win, but he should definitely stay in the race, writes Timothy Egan in a New York Times op-ed, praising the Vermont senator for energizing young voters, forcing the Democratic party to pay attention to the "angry millions in the margins," and pulling Clinton to the left on issues like trade deals and Wall Street. By staying in the race, Sanders' ideas "will shape every part of the party platform, which will give Clinton what she lacks: a clear message," Egan writes. "Eventually, he'll endorse the woman he influenced, and Democrats will be the better for it."