Billionaire Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won Tuesday's presidential primaries in the northeastern U.S. state of New York, extending their leads over rivals trying to earn the Republican and Democratic nominations.
With the bulk of the votes counted, Trump had a huge win with about 60 percent compared to 25 percent for Ohio Governor John Kasich and 15 percent for Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Clinton was beating Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders 57 percent to 42 percent.
The candidates are trying to amass a majority of convention delegates in order to clinch their party nominations for the November general election.
Trump earned almost all of New York's 95 delegates for the Republicans, putting him at 845 delegates after Tuesday's vote. Cruz remained at 559 delegates, while Kasich gained a few to reach 147. A Republican needs 1,237 to be nominated, a level Trump may not be able to reach before the party's July convention.
The Republican front-runner thanked his supporters and continued to cast himself as the only GOP candidate with enough support to win the nomination.
"We don't have much of a race anymore, based on what I'm seeing on television, Senator Cruz is just about mathematically eliminated," Trump said.
Trump also hinted at his continued criticism of the delegate selection process, saying "It's really nice to win the delegates with the votes."
Open convention
Cruz and Kasich are now hoping for an open convention where Trump is not chosen on the first ballot and delegates are free to vote for them in the second round. In remarks to his supporters Tuesday, Cruz likened himself to Sanders.
"The people in state after state have made it clear, they cry out for a new path," Cruz said. "This is the year of the outsider. I'm an outsider, Bernie Sanders is an outsider. Both with the same diagnosis, but both with very different paths to healing."
Sanders also faces a mathematically tough road to his party's nomination.
Clinton maintains lead over Sanders
Clinton's win put her at 1,887 delegates, including the so-called super delegates who have pledged to support her, while Sanders trailed at 1,174. The Democrats have more overall delegates, so a candidate needs 2,383 to clinch a majority.
But Sanders remains positive and told an enthusiastic crowd Tuesday that Clinton is "getting a little bit nervous." He also highlighted a potential benefit that his campaign with its mass of young, passionate supporters could have for the Democratic Party as a whole.
"This is the campaign that has the energy, that has the enthusiasm, and that in November will create the kind of voter turnout that will not only allow us to retain the White House, but we'll regain the U.S. Senate, we'll do better in the House."
Clinton used part of her victory speech Tuesday night to reach out to those Sanders backers.
"To all the people who supported Senator Sanders, I believe there is much more that unites us than divides us."
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