By the end of the night, Super Tuesday III could be all but the
clinch for Hillary Clinton -- while Donald Trump could be poised to turn
the Ted Cruz-John Kasich alliance from a potential game-changer into a
Hail Mary.On the Democratic side, Clinton is likely to stride even closer to the nomination in the five state contests being held Tuesday, looking to further isolate Bernie Sanders as the Vermont senator struggles to translate his enthusiastic base of support into a winning coalition. Even Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday he does not think Sanders has a path to the nomination.
And Trump likewise is eyeing a potential primary sweep across the Northeast in the same states, looking to dramatically extend his delegate lead.
It won’t be enough for either to clinch the nomination, but a strong performance for the front-runners would further complicate the path to victory for the rest of the field -- especially Sanders.
Up for grabs Tuesday are delegates in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Maryland, Delaware and Connecticut – with Pennsylvania the biggest prize. Polls close at 8 p.m. ET in all five states.
Democrats are competing for 384 delegates in Tuesday's contests, while Republicans have 118 up for grabs (not counting the 54 unbound delegates in Pennsylvania).
