Trump trounces in New York primary, pushes toward 1,237

“It’s just incredible,” Trump declared, as he spoke inside the atrium of Trump Tower in Manhattan surrounded by his family and at least 100 cheering friends and supporters. “We’re gonna end at a very high level, and get a lot more delegates than anybody projected, even in their wildest imagination.”

Though the results were still being tallied, Trump appeared to be in strong position to win close to the 95 delegates at stake Tuesday, expanding the real estate mogul’s already sizable delegate lead over his closest rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. But it was unclear if Trump’s home state win will be enough to stave off a contested Republican convention this summer.

While Trump has won the majority of votes in the GOP race so far, his campaign was slow to get a handle on the delegate race and has been outmaneuvered in several states, including Louisiana, Colorado and Wyoming, by the Cruz campaign in recent weeks. But Cruz, who has positioned himself as the chief alternative to Trump, suffered a significant setback on Tuesday, placing a distant third in the primary behind Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Though Cruz did not expect to win New York, his poor showing put him at risk of emerging Tuesday with no delegates at all.

Speaking to reporters about Cruz’s fortunes on Tuesday night, Trump declared, “We don’t have much of a race anymore based on what I am seeing. … It’s impossible to catch us.”

For Trump, the win in New York was a psychological boost for his campaign, which has been under pressure amid delegate intrigue and Cruz’s victory in Wisconsin two weeks ago. And it came at a crucial time, giving Trump momentum heading into a slate of northeastern states believed to be favorable to his campaign, including Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Rhode Island, which hold GOP primaries on April 26.

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