Primary voters in five states lined up to have their say Tuesday as Judgement Day arrived for at least two Republican presidential hopefuls.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton was poised to lengthen her lead while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders hoped for enough successes to stay relevant deep into the primary season.
Primaries were held in Florida, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri. Billionaire GOP frontrunner Donald Trump was the first victor, winning the Republican caucus in the Northern Mariana Islands, a remote U.S. territory of 15 islands in the Pacific Ocean.
No stakes were higher than in Florida, where favorite son Sen. Marco Rubio desperately needed a win to prop up his flagging campaign. In Ohio, Gov. John Kasich promised to start a winning streak in his home state. A Trump sweep would also severely damage the fortunes of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, putting a Trump nomination within easy reach.
Rubio was unbowed by recent polls that make him a solid double-digit underdog in Florida. He told Fox News that a Trump victory would cripple the Republican Party and the conservative movement — and ensure a Democratic victory in November.
"I think a lot of people are going to be embarrassed" when the returns roll in, Rubio said. "We are going to win Florida."
Kasich, buoyed by polling that showed him with a slim lead over Trump headed into the Ohio primary, spoke with similar confidence Tuesday after voting in Westerville, Ohio.
"I feel great, we are going to win," Kasich said. He declined to discuss Trump, but did allude to "deeply disturbing" statements Trump has made.
"We probably missed opportunities to get attention early on, but ... our positive campaign is starting to shine through like a beacon across the country," he said.
Mitt Romney, the GOP's failed 2012 candidate, recently joined Kasich on the campaign trail, drawing Twitter ire from Trump as polls opened in Ohio.
"Don't reward Mitt Romney, who let us all down in the last presidential race, by voting for Kasich (who voted for NAFTA, open borders etc.)," Trump tweeted. Later Trump tweeted more about the North American trade deal: "North Carolina lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs and Ohio lost 400,000 since 2000. Going to Mexico etc. NO MORE IF I WIN, WE WILL BRING BACK!"
Trump told NBC'sToday that Republican leaders should back him because he has brought new voters to the party.
"It's the biggest story in politics worldwide," Trump said. "We brought millions of people in, and they're voting in the primaries."
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders provided far more muted Twitter offerings.
"Sisters and brothers in Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina, Missouri and Florida: make your voice heard today. Go vote. #VoteTogether," Sanders tweeted. Clinton's Twitter feed chimed in with "FL, IL, MO, NC, and OH: Hillary's counting on you to vote today."
Clinton hoped Tuesday's primaries would cement her grip on the Democratic presidential nomination. They are more likely to make clear the race has a long way to go.
Clinton held a wide lead in polling in Florida and North Carolina, but recent polls showed a tight race in Missouri and Sanders narrowing her advantage in Illinois and Ohio. After the Vermont senator pulled off a surprise victory last week in Michigan, closing a 20-point gap in polls, backers of both candidates expect more gains for Sanders on Tuesday.
Clinton, speaking to reporters in Raleigh, N.C., took aim at Trump's "bullying" and promised to run a positive, focused campaign.
"The vast majority of Americans are more interested in solving our problems than in venting our disappointment and our anger," she said.
The Sanders campaign believes a strong showing Tuesday could lead to momentum in places like Arizona, which holds its primary March 22, further disproving the Clinton campaign’s contention that the Vermont senator is a regional candidate who appeals mainly to white liberals and working-class northeasterners.
Even if Sanders pulls off an upset in Ohio or Illinois — where Clinton was born and raised — her status as the race's frontrunner would remain unchanged, given her lead of more than 200 pledged delegates. Delegates are awarded proportionally, and she’s poised to collect the most Tuesday.
“There are plenty of Democrats and Clinton supporters who wish this nomination would have been wrapped up by now,” said Nathan Gonzales, editor and publisher of the nonpartisan Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report. “I still believe she will be the nominee. It’s just taking longer than expected, and it’s evidence of a growing divide in the Democratic Party,” he added.
