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| Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a rally, Tuesday, March 15, 2016, in West Palm Beach, Fla. |
CLEVELAND
(AP) -- Hillary Clinton triumphed Tuesday in the Florida, Ohio and
North Carolina presidential primaries, a commanding showing for the
Democratic front-runner now eager to move on to the general election.
But the contests brought little clarity to the Republican race, with
Donald Trump winning big in Florida but falling in Ohio to the state's
governor, John Kasich.
Florida Sen. Marco
Rubio ended his once-promising campaign after his home-state loss, so
the GOP primary is now down to three candidates: Trump, Kasich and Texas
Sen. Ted Cruz. It is far from clear if any can reach the 1,237
delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination, ratcheting up the
prospects of a contested convention.
"It's a
real election for someone who knows how to fix the country, the
economy," Kasich said in an interview with CNN moments after the Ohio
race was called. "We're fired up."
Clinton
declared to cheering supporters at her victory rally: "We are moving
closer to securing the Democratic Party nomination and winning this
election in November."
Rubio implicitly
rebuked Trump throughout a speech announcing he was dropping out of the
race, imploring Americans to "not give in to the fear, do not give in to
the frustration."
Rubio, a favorite of
Republican leaders, is the latest candidate to fall victim to an
unpredictable election cycle and Trump's unmatched ability to tap into
the public's anger with Washington and frustration with sweeping
economic changes.
Clinton's victories in Ohio
and Florida bolstered her argument that she's the best Democratic
candidate to take on Republicans in the general election. Her win in
Ohio was a particular relief for her campaign, which grew anxious after
rival Bernie Sanders pulled off a surprising win last week in Michigan,
another important Midwestern state.
Clinton
kept up her large margins with black voters, a crucial group for
Democrats in the general election. Democratic voters were more likely to
describe Sanders as honest, but more likely to describe Clinton's
policies as realistic, according to exit polls.
Campaigning
Tuesday in North Carolina, Clinton said "the numbers are adding up in
my favor." She signaled an eagerness to move on to a possible general
election showdown with Trump, saying he's laid out a "really dangerous
path" for the country.
Votes were also being
counted Tuesday in Missouri and Illinois, though races in both parties
were too close to call. Trump and Cruz were in a close race in North
Carolina.
Trump entered Tuesday's primaries
embroiled in one of the biggest controversies of his contentious
campaign. The GOP front-runner has encouraged supporters to confront
protesters at his events and is now facing accusations of encouraging
violence after skirmishes at a rally last week in Chicago.
The
atmosphere at his events has deepened the concern over his candidacy in
some Republican circles. Rubio and Kasich have suggested they might not
be able to support Trump if he's the nominee, an extraordinary stance
for intraparty rivals.
Trump's closest
competition so far has come from Cruz, who has kept relatively close to
the businessman in the delegate count. Cruz has been urging Rubio and
Kasich to step aside and let him get into a one-on-one race.
Even
before Tuesday's results, a group of conservatives was planning a
meeting to discuss options for stopping Trump, including at a contested
convention or by rallying around a third-party candidate. While such no
candidate has been identified, the participants in Tuesday's meeting
planned to discuss ballot access issues, including using an existing
third party as a vehicle or securing signatures for an independent bid.
A
person familiar with the planning confirmed the meeting on the
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the
gathering by name.
Despite concerns from party
leaders, Republican voters continue to back Trump's most controversial
proposals, with two-thirds of those who participated in GOP primaries
Tuesday saying they support temporarily banning Muslims from the United
States.
The exit polls were conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks.
Trump's
Florida victory brought his delegate total to 568. Cruz has 370
delegates, Rubio has 163 and Kasich has 63. It takes 1,237 to win the
GOP nomination.
Clinton has at least 1,353
delegates, including the superdelegates who are elected officials and
party leaders free to support the candidate of their choice. Sanders has
at least 625. It takes 2,383 to win the Democratic nomination.
