Trump, Clinton closer to US presidential nominations

WASHINGTON

With seven months before the presidential elections, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and real estate mogul Donald Trump have strengthened their potential nominations after primaries on Tuesday.

With Trump’s victory in the last five contests in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and Rhode Island, and Clinton winning four of them, the gap between the front-runners and their rivals have enlarged.

Especially after last week’s victory in the New York primary, Trump is one step closer to reaching the number of delegates he needs to become the Republican nominee for the presidency.

On Tuesday night, Trump won 109 delegates, which increased his delegate number to 954 in total.

Trump needs 283 delegates more to have 1,237 – which is the amount a Republican candidate has to achieve in order to be party’s presidential nominee.

His closest rival is Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, whose delegate count is 562.

Currently, Trump has 392 delegates more than Cruz.

Trump is expected to reach 1,237 after primaries in Indiana on May 3 and California on June 7.

Indiana with 57 delegates and California with 172 delegates are the states with the highest number of delegates for Republicans candidates until the party convention in July.

Following Indiana, New Jersey with 51 delegates is the third most important state for the party.

While Trump’s delegation numbers overshadow Cruz’s and Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s nominations, the two candidates have made the decision to act together.

Cruz or Kasich will reportedly help each other in states where either one is stronger.

Both candidates aim to prevent Trump from getting to 1,237 delegates.

If Trump fails to get to that number until the convention, a new vote at the gathering will decide who will be the Republican presidential candidate.

Polls show Trump currently leads New Jersey and California, whereas in Indiana the case is more hopeful for Kasich and Cruz as there is only a six-point difference between Trump and Cruz.

When compared to the Republicans, the case of the Democrats is clearer, as Clinton currently holds 2,169 delegates, including 519 super delegates who have special privileges.

A total of 2,384 delegates is needed to secure the Democratic party’s nomination.

Clinton’s Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, has only 1,387 delegates in total, including the super delegates.

Though Sanders has a chance to win the upcoming primary in Indiana, the gap between he and Clinton may be already too big.

The party’s nominee will be clear after the Democratic convention, also in July, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Republicans will hold their convention in Cleveland, Ohio.