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| Can Clinton and Trump ride to big victories in next week’s ‘Acela primary’? | Can Clinton and Trump ride to big victories in next week’s ‘Acela primary’? |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| PHILADELPHIA —Emboldened by dominant victories in New York, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump plunged swiftly Wednesday into the next batch of primaries in five states along the Northeast Corridor, where they hope to bury or break their challengers for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. | PHILADELPHIA —Emboldened by dominant victories in New York, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump plunged swiftly Wednesday into the next batch of primaries in five states along the Northeast Corridor, where they hope to bury or break their challengers for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. |
| Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island will vote next Tuesday in what many are dubbing the “Acela primary,” putting Clinton and Trump on terrain well-tailored to their campaigns. For Clinton, it’s a chance to effectively end Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s long-shot hopes in the Democratic race. | Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island will vote next Tuesday in what many are dubbing the “Acela primary,” putting Clinton and Trump on terrain well-tailored to their campaigns. For Clinton, it’s a chance to effectively end Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s long-shot hopes in the Democratic race. |
| For Trump, the contests are an opportunity to further pad his delegate lead over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and send him tumbling into the final six weeks of the campaign. That crucial period will determine whether the mogul will clinch the GOP nomination outright or if the race will head to a contested convention. | For Trump, the contests are an opportunity to further pad his delegate lead over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and send him tumbling into the final six weeks of the campaign. That crucial period will determine whether the mogul will clinch the GOP nomination outright or if the race will head to a contested convention. |
| Trump faces a key test here in Pennsylvania, Tuesday’s biggest prize. Cruz is making an aggressive push to influence who becomes delegates from the Keystone State, which will send most of its slate to the Republican National Convention officially unbound to any candidate. Even a statewide win by Trump could be undercut if he does not derail Cruz’s plan. | Trump faces a key test here in Pennsylvania, Tuesday’s biggest prize. Cruz is making an aggressive push to influence who becomes delegates from the Keystone State, which will send most of its slate to the Republican National Convention officially unbound to any candidate. Even a statewide win by Trump could be undercut if he does not derail Cruz’s plan. |
| After defeating Sanders handily in New York on Tuesday, Clinton planned to talk about gun violence at a predominantly African American Church here in Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon and hold an organizing event in the evening. Clinton is looking to maintain her strong support among black voters next Tuesday. Large urban areas with sizable black populations will be voting. | |
| Trump, who trounced Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich in his home state of New York, plans to hold an evening rally in Berlin, Md., near the border with Delaware. Trump has performed very well in Northeast primaries. | |
| Anticipating defeat in New York, Cruz, Kasich and Sanders jumped ahead to campaign in Pennsylvania on Tuesday. The Texas senator even gave a prime-time speech in Philadelphia looking past the New York results. Both Cruz and Kasich planned to campaign in Pennsylvania again on Wednesday. | |
| In the Democratic primary, Clinton is favored to claim Tuesday’s top two trophies — Pennsylvania and Maryland. She has personal ties to the former and frequently talks about her grandfather, who worked in a lace mill in Scranton, Pa. | In the Democratic primary, Clinton is favored to claim Tuesday’s top two trophies — Pennsylvania and Maryland. She has personal ties to the former and frequently talks about her grandfather, who worked in a lace mill in Scranton, Pa. |
| Together with New York, the states voting next week should effectively put the nomination out of reach for Sanders, said former Pennsylvania governor Edward Rendell, a Clinton backer. | Together with New York, the states voting next week should effectively put the nomination out of reach for Sanders, said former Pennsylvania governor Edward Rendell, a Clinton backer. |
| “The math will be too hard,” Rendell said. “My guess is she will be up by 300 delegates, and after the Acela primary there are only six, seven, eight opportunities left, and the only really big one is California. That’s not enough.” | |
| But even lopsided victories for Clinton in Pennsylvania, with 189 delegates at stake, and Maryland, with 95, would probably not end Sanders’s candidacy. His aides have continued to argue that there is a path to catching Clinton in the number of delegates awarded in primaries and caucuses — a scenario that would require a series of resounding wins in May and a huge victory in California in June. | |
| [Donald Trump displays his best behavior at New York victory party] | [Donald Trump displays his best behavior at New York victory party] |
| Adding to Sanders’s challenge next week are the rules governing the contests. Four of the five states — Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Rhode Island — are closed to independents, as New York was. Sanders has done better in states where unaffiliated voters can support him in the nominating contest. | Adding to Sanders’s challenge next week are the rules governing the contests. Four of the five states — Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Rhode Island — are closed to independents, as New York was. Sanders has done better in states where unaffiliated voters can support him in the nominating contest. |
| Sanders has said he thinks he will win the Pennsylvania primary. His spokesman, Michael Briggs, said Sanders should also perform well in Connecticut, citing wins in other New England states. He will take a day off the campaign trail on Wednesday before returning in Pennsylvania on Thursday. | |
| On the Republican side, 172 delegates are at stake in the five states voting Tuesday — 71 from Pennsylvania. Recent polls show Trump leading Cruz in the state. | |
| “I think Mr. Trump’s going to do very well in the state of Pennsylvania,” campaign manager Corey Lewandowski predicted. | “I think Mr. Trump’s going to do very well in the state of Pennsylvania,” campaign manager Corey Lewandowski predicted. |
| In each of the state’s 18 congressional districts, Republican voters will not just select a presidential candidate, they will also choose a slate of three delegates who will go to the Cleveland convention unbound. The statewide Republican winner will get a separate prize of 17 delegates pledged to him on the first ballot at the convention. | |
| Cruz’s campaign plans to persuade voters to elect his preferred delegates in each district. | |
| “We’re going to voters saying: When you go into the polls on election day, vote four times for Ted Cruz. Vote for Ted Cruz and vote for each of his three congressional district delegates,” said Lowman Henry, Cruz’s Pennsylvania state chairman. | |
| Henry said the Cruz campaign is “going to make that plain in a variety of ways through really 18 different congressional district campaigns we’re going to be running over the next week.” He declined to lay out the specific strategy for doing so. | |
| But there is no guarantee it will work. And if it doesn’t, Pennsylvania could quickly become Trump territory. A recent Pittsburgh Tribune-Review survey of the people running for delegate in their district showed many would support the statewide or districtwide winner on the first ballot in Cleveland. | |
| [The Take: Clinton got what she needed in N.Y., but her image is underwater] | [The Take: Clinton got what she needed in N.Y., but her image is underwater] |
| Trump convention manager Paul Manafort said Pennsylvania will be different from previous states where Cruz sailed through the delegate-selection process. | |
| “We were involved in the filing, and we’re going to run a very competitive race,” he said. | |
| Cruz strategists believe they can win enough support in the remaining contests to keep Trump from getting to 1,237 delegates, the number needed clinch the nomination. Trump’s team, meanwhile, has said it is hopeful he will eclipse that threshold by the time primary season ends in June. After New York, Trump led Cruz 845 delegates to 559, according to the Associated Press’s latest tally Wednesday morning. | |
| But Kasich is a wild card for Trump and Cruz. The Ohio governor’s centrist pitch could win him some support Tuesday’s contests, where many Republicans are moderates. Kasich planned to campaign in at least three of the five states between Wednesday and Saturday. In a memo released Tuesday night, chief strategist John Weaver argued that Kasich was “best positioned” against Trump on Tuesday. | But Kasich is a wild card for Trump and Cruz. The Ohio governor’s centrist pitch could win him some support Tuesday’s contests, where many Republicans are moderates. Kasich planned to campaign in at least three of the five states between Wednesday and Saturday. In a memo released Tuesday night, chief strategist John Weaver argued that Kasich was “best positioned” against Trump on Tuesday. |
| Both Trump and Cruz have started looking ahead to the May 3 battleground of Indiana, where Cruz’s campaign feels it could end a potential two-week losing streak in the Northeast. Trump’s first scheduled campaign stop Wednesday was a rally in Indianapolis. Cruz was expected to campaign there on Thursday. | |
| Along with Pennsylvania, Cruz’s strategists see Maryland as another state where he could make some headway, but no one is predicting big victories. If anything, they are bracing for another impressive showing by Trump. | Along with Pennsylvania, Cruz’s strategists see Maryland as another state where he could make some headway, but no one is predicting big victories. If anything, they are bracing for another impressive showing by Trump. |
| “I think once we get by the 26th and we start heading west again, you’re going to particularly there see Sen. Cruz start to rack up delegates,” Henry said. | “I think once we get by the 26th and we start heading west again, you’re going to particularly there see Sen. Cruz start to rack up delegates,” Henry said. |
| Gearan reported from Washington. John Wagner in State College, Pa., and Jenna Johnson in New York contributed to this report. | Gearan reported from Washington. John Wagner in State College, Pa., and Jenna Johnson in New York contributed to this report. |