Donald J. Trump crushed his Republican opponents in Pennsylvania, Maryland and three other states on Tuesday, a sweep that put him considerably closer to capturing the party’s presidential nomination outright, while Hillary Clinton won Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland and Delaware and was battling to amass enough delegates to claim the Democratic nomination as early as mid-May.

Though Mr. Trump was widely expected to dominate the primaries, his margins of victory represented a breakthrough: He received 55 percent to 60 percent of the vote in some states, after months of winning many primaries with less than a majority.

Mr. Trump’s success intensified the aura of inevitability around his bid to lead the Republicans, and created urgent new challenges for his rivals. More significant, it increased his chances of avoiding a fight on the floor of the party’s convention in July and of claiming the nomination on the delegates’ first ballot.

“When the boxer knocks out the other boxer, you don’t have to wait around for a decision,” he said boastfully at an election-night appearance before supporters at Trump Tower in New York.

The other Republican candidates, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, fared so poorly on Tuesday that they were likely to lose most of the 118 bound delegates up for grabs across the Northeast. Rhode Island, Connecticut and Delaware also went for Mr. Trump.

Mr. Cruz is now under growing pressure to beat Mr. Trump in Indiana’s primary next week, perhaps the last real chance the stop-Trump forces have to halt his march to the nomination. He and Mr. Kasich forged an alliance to thwart Mr. Trump in Indiana, but it has yet to show signs of working.

Even before polls closed in the East on Tuesday night, Mr. Cruz tried to pre-empt the rush of coverage about Mr. Trump’s dominance.

“Tonight this campaign moves back to more favorable terrain,” Mr. Cruz told supporters in the Knightstown, Ind., gymnasium where the high school basketball movie “Hoosiers,” about underdogs who triumph over a big-city rival, was filmed.

On the Democratic side, while Senator Bernie Sanders won the primary in Rhode Island, Mrs. Clinton was poised to pick up significantly more delegates than he in Maryland and Pennsylvania in particular. Her advisers predicted that she would net at least 30 more pledged delegates over all — and perhaps significantly more — to add to her lead of about 240 going into the primaries. 

Trump sweeps primaries in five US states

Washington, April 27 (IANS) Donald Trump crushed his Republican opponents in Pennsylvania, Maryland and three other US states, a sweep that put him considerably closer to capturing the party’s presidential nomination outright, while Hillary Clinton won Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware, the media reported.

Trump was widely expected to dominate the primaries and his margins of victory on Tuesday intensified the aura of inevitability around his bid to lead the Republicans and created urgent new challenges for his rivals, the New York Times reported.

More significant, they increased his chances of avoiding a fight on the floor of the party’s convention in July and of claiming the nomination on the delegates’ first ballot.

The other Republican candidates, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and John Kasich of Ohio, fared so poorly on Tuesday that they were likely to lose most of the 118 bound delegates up for grabs across the Northeast. 

Rhode Island, Connecticut and Delaware also went for Trump.

Cruz is now under intense pressure to beat Trump in Indiana’s primary next week, perhaps the last real chance the stop-Trump forces have to halt his march to the nomination. He and Kasich forged an alliance to stop Trump in Indiana, but it already appears strained.

Even before polls closed in the East on Tuesday night, Cruz tried to pre-empt the rush of coverage about Trump’s dominance.