This is going to take a while — for Republicans because of math and for Democrats because of message.
Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton expanded their delegate leads with victories in Tuesday’s primaries, making it almost impossible for anybody except them to command the majority of delegates needed to be nominated for president.
But Trump’s opponents, bolstered by a victory in Ohio by Gov. John Kasich, hoped to prevent the billionaire businessman from reaching the 1,237 delegates he needs and thus spark the first contested convention since 1976. Clinton’s rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is determined to leave a more liberal imprint on the Democratic Party, seemed unlikely to be deterred anytime soon by delegate math.
That means both contests are likely to continue with some intensity until the final set of primaries June 7 — and for the GOP, perhaps all the way to the Cleveland convention in July.
Among Republicans, Trump won Illinois, North Carolina and Florida, the evening’s biggest prize. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, trailing by double digits in his home state, suspended his campaign and winnowed the GOP field to three.
READ MORE: Clinton claims four states, including Ohio, to stretch her lead over Sanders
But Kasich’s Ohio victory denied Trump the aura of inevitability he had hoped to claim, even though Kasich couldn’t reach a convention majority if he won every delegate still to be chosen. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz would need to win about eight in 10. Trump would need to win about six in 10.