By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Tuesday, March 15, New York City billionaire and reality TV star Donald Trump had another big primary night with wins in Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Ohio Governor John Kasich won his home state, which is winner take all.
As of press time, with 99 percent of the vote in, it appeared that Donald Trump was going to narrowly beat US Senator Ted Cruz in Missouri. The winner of Missouri gets a 15 delegate bonus. The rest of the state is proportional.
A triumphant Donald Trump said, “Apple and all these great countries are going to be making their products in this country and not in Korea, Vietnam,”… “Companies are actually leaving our country in order to go get money, their own money.” Today Pam Bondy came up and endorsed us. Ben Carson endorsed us, what a great man. Chris Christie endorsed us.
Trump said, “I talked with Paul Ryan recently. I spoke with Mitch McConnell. We have to bring our party together.” Trump said there is great anger. “We lose $500 billion a year with China. The Iran deal was a terrible deal. They got $150 billion and we got nothing. We don’t win anymore. The people are not angry people but they want the country run properly.”
Trump said, “We are going to start winning again.” He promised to” knock the Hell out of ISIS. ” “We are going to make this country rich again. We are going to make the country again. I hate to tell you, but we need the riches to make America great.”
Trump said that they spent $80 to $90 million on negative ads against me and my numbers went up.
Governor John Kasich won his home state of Ohio. Gov. Kasich said, “I may go to the convention with more delegates than any other candidate. We know that we need to unite this country and not divide it further. People of Ohio I love you and I am going to be out there fighting for you every day. “Never underestimate our ability to change the world in which we live.” “We are going all the way to Cleveland and secure the nomination.”
Senator Marco Rubio lost his home state of Florida, which was winner take all. Sen. Rubio said, “Our voters make these decisions and I respect their decision. People are very frustrated by the direction of our country. People are tired of being looked down on. I know immigration in this country is broken. I have battled my whole life against the people who are considered elites.”
Sen. Rubio announced that he is suspending his campaign. That leaves just Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich as candidates in the Republican race.
Donald Trump said, “I want to congratulate Marco Rubio for running a great campaign. He is tough and he has a great future ahead of him.”
Sen. Ted Cruz said in a statement: “Marco Rubio is a friend and a colleague who ran an optimistic campaign focused on the future of our party, conservative principles, and uplifting the American people. The Republican primary was stronger because of the ideas he brought forth. Marco’s story embodies the promise of our great nation. I know he will continue to be a champion for limitless opportunity in America, and I wish Marco, Jeanette, and their four kids the very best.”
On the Democratic side, frontrunner Hillary Clinton won Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, Ohio, and appeared poised to narrowly take Missouri as of press time. Hillary said that the next President has to be able to do three things: Can you make a positive difference in people’s lives? Can you keep America safe? And can you bring our country together again? “We are going to stand up for the middle class again.” “We should be tearing barriers down, not building walls.” Clinton said that she favored a path for citizenship for illegal aliens.
As of press time, Donald Trump has won 621 delegates. Ted Cruz has just 396 delegates. Marco Rubio has just 168 delegates. John Kasich has 138 delegates. To win the Republican nomination it takes 1237 delegates to vote for the candidate’s nomination at the convention.
With 1134 delegates yet to be awarded, Donald Trump is the only candidate still with a realistic chance to win the GOP nomination out right without a brokered convention. The delegates are pledged to support their candidate on the first ballot. After that most delegates are free to vote for whomever they want to vote for. They will keep voting until someone wins the nomination and there is nothing in the rules that says that eventual nominee has to be someone who came to the convention with pledged delegates. Any of the Republican candidates could, in theory, unsuspend their campaign and be nominated by a delegate on the floor of the convention. 2012 nominee former Governor Mitt Romney and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) have both been mentioned as possible candidates if no candidate were able to get to 1237 delegate votes on the first ballot.
In the Democratic race for the nomination, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has amassed1564 delegates, while Senator Bernie Sanders has just 800.
(Original reporting by Fox News, CNN, and Politico contributed to this report)
