Clinton less than 300 delegates from nomination

April 26, 2016

Kate Nemarich,

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on campaign 2016 as voters head to the polls in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware and Maryland (all times Eastern):

9:20 p.m.

Hillary Clinton is assured of winning more delegates than Bernie Sanders for the night after wins in Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania, padding her overall big lead.

She’s now less than 300 delegates away from clinching the Democratic nomination – with the outcome of Connecticut still to come.

Pennsylvania and Maryland were the two biggest delegate prizes on Tuesday.

In those states plus Delaware, Clinton will win at least 142 delegates. Sanders will take at least 66. Many remain to be allocated pending final vote tallies.

That means to date, Clinton now has 1,578 delegates based on primaries and caucuses, compared to 1,232 for Sanders.

When including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate, Clinton has 2,097 compared to Sanders’ 1,271.

She’s now 88 percent of the way to reaching the 2,383 delegates needed to clinch.

Clinton now needs to win just 21 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to hit 2,383.

Sanders won the Rhode Island primary.

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9:15 p.m.

With a five-state sweep on Tuesday, Donald Trump is staying on his narrow path to win the Republican nomination for president by the end of the primaries.

He has to keep winning to do it, and he has little room for error.

Trump padded his lead in the race for delegates, winning at least 82 of the 118 delegates up for grabs on Tuesday.

In Pennsylvania, Trump collected 17 delegates for winning the state. An additional 54 delegates are elected directly by voters – three in each congressional district. However, their names are listed on the ballot with no information about which presidential candidate they support.

The AP delegate count:

Trump: 927.

Ted Cruz: 559.

John Kasich: 148.

Needed to win: 1,237.

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9:10 p.m.

Bernie Sanders has won the Democratic presidential primary in Rhode Island, offering the Vermont senator modest gains in the race against front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Sanders’ win Tuesday blocks a potential sweep of the day’s five races by Clinton, who has already won three out of the five contests.

But the former Secretary of State entered Tuesday’s five primaries having already accumulated 82 percent of the delegates needed to win her party’s nomination. While she can’t win enough delegates to officially knock Sanders out of the race this week, her gains could make it virtually impossible for him to catch up to her in the remaining contests.

There are 384 Democratic delegates up for grabs in Tuesday’s races in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

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9:00 p.m.

Hillary Clinton has won the Democratic presidential primary in Pennsylvania, further solidifying her footing in the race against Bernie Sanders.

Leading up to Tuesday’s contest, Clinton had campaigned extensively in the state, which she often refers to as her ancestral home.

The former Secretary of State entered Tuesday’s five primaries having already accumulated 82 percent of the delegates needed to win her party’s nomination. While she can’t win enough delegates to officially knock Sanders out of the race this week, she can erase any lingering doubts about her standing.

There are 384 Democratic delegates up for grabs in Tuesday’s five contests. Earlier Tuesday, Clinton won the races in Maryland and Delaware.

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8:35 p.m.

Donald Trump has won the Republican primaries in Rhode Island and Delaware, sweeping all five of Tuesday’s contests.

Hillary Clinton has also won her second contest of the night, winning the Democratic primary in Delaware.

The two front-runners were positioned to do well, further extending their leads against their respective rivals and bringing them closer to their party nominations.

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8:15 p.m.

Bernie Sanders is vowing to continue his Democratic primary campaign, casting himself as the stronger candidate in the general election.

Sanders noted Tuesday that the fall election is not a “closed primary.” Independents, he said, “will be voting all over this country for the next president.”

Clinton won the Maryland primary on Tuesday night and was expected to do well in a number of other northeastern states holding contests. Only registered Democrats were permitted to vote in those elections. Sanders has polled better with independents.

He is speaking in Huntington, W. Va.

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8:12 p.m.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is using a bit of political theater to propel his underdog presidential campaign in Indiana.

Cruz spoke Tuesday night in the gym where parts of the 1986 basketball film “Hoosiers” was made.

One of Cruz’s aides is recreating one of the film’s famous scenes by dropping a tape measure from the rim of the basket to show it’s the same height as every other basket. Actor Gene Hackman did the same thing in the movie before his team went on to win the state championship.

After recreating the scene, Cruz says to cheers, “There is nothing that Hoosiers cannot do!”

Cruz is focusing on trying to win Indiana’s primary next week to deny Trump the majority of delegates needed to capture the nomination before the national convention in July.

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8:10 p.m.

With victories in three states, Donald Trump is adding to his big lead in the race for delegates to the Republican national convention. If he keeps it up, he can stay on track to win the nomination by the end of the primaries on June 7.

Trump will win at least half of the 118 delegates up for grabs in Tuesday’s contests. And he has a chance to win a lot more.

The AP delegate count:

Trump: 904.

Ted Cruz: 559.

John Kasich: 148.

Needed to win: 1,237.

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8:02 p.m.

Ted Cruz says the race for the White House is now moving back to more “favorable terrain” like Indiana.

Cruz chose to speak Tuesday night in Indiana, instead of any of the five Northeastern states that were voting Tuesday.

Trump claimed early wins in Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland as polls in those three states closed.

Cruz spoke on the floor of a nearly 100-year-old basketball court where the 1986 film “Hoosiers” was shot. Cruz referenced the film about a small town team’s underdog victory in the state tournament, saying “There is nothing that Hoosiers cannot do.”

Cruz is hoping to rebound next week in Indiana and is focused on campaigning in the state ahead of its May 3 primary.

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8:00 p.m.

Donald Trump has won the Republican presidential primaries in Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland, giving the billionaire businessman a boost in a critical night as he seeks to shut out his opponents.

Hillary Clinton has also won the Democratic primary in Maryland.

Clinton entered Tuesday’s five primaries having already accumulated 82 percent of the delegates needed to win her party’s nomination. While she can’t win enough delegates to officially knock Bernie Sanders out of the race this week, she can make it virtually impossible for him to catch up to her in the remaining contests.

Trump’s win in Pennsylvania, the biggest prize in Tuesday’s five contests, lends a boost to his embattled campaign which is facing a growing challenge from rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich who announced this week that they are teaming up to thwart his rise.

While the Republican winner in Pennsylvania gets 17 delegates up front, the other 54 are directly elected by voters. They are allowed to support any candidate they choose at the national convention, but their names are listed on the ballot with no information about whom they support, meaning that voters who haven’t studied up on their choices will be voting blind.