The Latest: Trump three-quarters of the way to nomination
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on campaign 2016 as voters head to the polls in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware and Maryland (all times Eastern):
10:55 p.m.
Republican Donald Trump says that Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton is only doing well in the election because of her gender.
"Frankly, if Hillary Clinton were a man, I don't think she'd get five percent of the vote," Trump told reporters. "The only thing she's got going is the woman's card. And the beautiful things is, women don't like her, Okay?"
Trump was speaking in Manhattan after sweeping primaries in all five states that voted Tuesday.
Both he and Clinton have high unfavorable ratings, and Trump has made clear that he intends to attack the woman he calls "Crooked Hillary" mercilessly if the pair wind up facing off in a general election.
Trump also suggested twice that Clinton's rival, Bernie Sanders, run as an independent.
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10:53 p.m.
Donald Trump is more than three-quarters of the way toward clinching the Republican nomination for president.
With 950 delegates, Trump has 77 percent of the delegates needed to win the nomination. He needs to win slightly more than half of the remaining delegates to get there.
Trump had a big night on Tuesday, collecting at least 105 of the 118 delegates at stake in five states.
John Kasich will win at least five delegates and Ted Cruz will win at least one.
Seven delegates are left to be awarded.
The AP delegate count:
Trump: 950.
Ted Cruz: 560.
John Kasich: 153.
Needed to win: 1,237.
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10:50 p.m.
An indicted Pennsylvania congressman facing his first primary fight in two decades has lost the Democratic primary just before the start of his federal corruption trial.
Eleven-term U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (SHAW'-kah fa-TAH') had been outspent in the race as he struggled to raise funds for both the campaign and his defense lawyers. He was ousted on Tuesday by a 36-year state lawmaker, Rep. Dwight Evans, in his first primary fight in two decades.
Fattah has represented the Philadelphia region in Washington for two decades and served on the powerful Appropriations Committee.
He's accused of accepting bribes and misusing campaign funds and charitable grants to enrich his family and friends.
He has called the seven-year FBI probe that's ensnared his son and close aides a political witch hunt. He says he has done nothing wrong.
Jury selection in his trial starts next week.
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10:40 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is now at least 90 percent of way to clinching the nomination, having won four of the five primaries on Tuesday.
With 384 delegates at stake, Clinton will win at least 190. Sanders will gain at least 114.
She's less than 250 delegates away from reaching the Democratic nomination. About 80 delegates from Tuesday are left to be allocated, pending final vote tallies.
Based on primaries and caucuses to date, Clinton has 1,618 delegates to Sanders' 1,267.
If Sanders hopes to overtake Clinton in those delegates, he would need to win 65 percent of the remaining delegates through June, having lost ground on Tuesday. So far, he's only been winning 44 percent.
Clinton's lead is bigger when including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate.
She has 2,137, or 90 percent of the 2,383 delegates needed to clinch. Sanders has 1,306.
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10:35 p.m.
With just seven weeks left in the primary process, Hillary Clinton's spokeswoman says the campaign is preparing for the general election.
"It's certainly prudent at this point and necessary to prepare for a general election," Jennifer Palmieri said after Clinton won four out of Tuesday's five contests. "And we have been making preparations and will continue to do so as the next seven weeks wind down."
After Clinton made an appeal to "thoughtful Republicans" on Tuesday night, Palmieri said the campaign believes Clinton can have broad appeal.
"There's certainly not anyone in the general electorate that we don't want to feel welcome on our side," she said.
On building party unity, Palmieri said that Sanders has said he will "do whatever he can to make sure the Republican is not elected in the fall. And we take him at his word that that's what he wants to do."
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10:32 p.m.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says that it's too soon for him to talk about potential vice presidents, but says he's getting closer to that time.
"We're going to set up a committee in the not-too-distant future," Trump told reporters Tuesday at Trump Tower as he celebrated his five-state sweep.
Trump has been asked about rival Ted Cruz's move to vetting candidates. He says Cruz is "wasting his time."
Trump was coy when asked whether he would put Chris Christie, who is in attendance, on his short list.
"I think he's fantastic," he said of the New Jersey governor.
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10:30 p.m.
Hillary Clinton has won the Democratic presidential primary in Connecticut, wrapping up a near shutout with wins in four out of Tuesday's five contests.
The former Secretary of State entered having already accumulated 82 percent of the delegates needed to win her party's nomination. While she can't win enough delegates to officially knock Sanders out of the race this week, she can erase any lingering doubts about her standing.
Prior to her win in Connecticut, she was already 88 percent of the way to winning the Democratic nomination.
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10:26 p.m.
Democrats in Pennsylvania have gone with their party establishment's choice for a U.S. Senate candidate and rejected an ex-congressman who six years ago nearly won the office.
Katie McGinty is a former state and federal environmental policy official who got millions in dollars from the party to run her campaign. She also received the endorsements of top Democrats from President Barack Obama on down.
She defeated second-time candidate Joe Sestak (SEHS'-tak), a retired Navy admiral the party didn't consider a team player. Two other candidates finished far behind in Tuesday's voting.
McGinty will challenge Republican incumbent Pat Toomey (TOO'-mee) in the November election. Toomey was unopposed for the Republican nomination.
This is McGinty's second run for statewide office. She finished last in a four-way gubernatorial primary in 2014.
The fall contest could tilt control of the Senate.
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10:25 p.m.
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says in an interview with The Associated Press that his campaign has a "very narrow path" to the nomination despite losses in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware on Tuesday.
Sanders says California's primary in June is "very important to us" and he thinks every voter should have "the right to vote for whom they want to see as president of the United States."
Even though his campaign is trailing Hillary Clinton, Sanders says "we are going to fight for every delegate" to the Democratic convention to influence the party's agenda.
Sanders notes that he won in Rhode Island, which was the only state in Tuesday's contests that allowed independents to participate in the Democratic primary. He says independents will be important in the fall election and superdelegates should take that into consideration.
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10:17 p.m.
Donald Trump says that the Republican nomination contest is "over" as he turned his focus to his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
"I call her crooked Hillary," he said in a speech Tuesday in New York following his five-state sweep. He said of the Republican nomination contest: "it's over. As far as I'm concerned it's over."
He vowed to do more for women than Clinton will if elected president and he reiterated his criticism of her handling of the security situation at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.
He repeatedly called on Clinton's Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, to run as an independent, saying "I think he'd do great."
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10:15 p.m.
Donald Trump is piling up the delegates on a big night Tuesday, collecting at least 105 of the 118 delegates at stake in five states.
His five-state sweep raises the stakes for the anti-Trump effort in Indiana next week. If Trump can win the Indiana primary, he will stay on a narrow path to clinch the nomination by the end of the primaries on June 7.
John Kasich will win at least five delegates in Tuesday's contests - both in Rhode Island. Ted Cruz, meanwhile, was contending for one or two delegates, also in Rhode Island.
Eight delegates are left to be awarded.
The AP delegate count:
Trump: 950.
Ted Cruz: 559.
John Kasich: 153.
Needed to win: 1,237.
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10:05 p.m.
Donald Trump says he considers himself the "presumptive nominee" of the Republican Party, despite being short of the delegates needed to claim the nomination.
Speaking after his sweep of all five of Tuesday's GOP primaries, the Republican front-runner reiterated his calls to rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich to get out of the race.
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10:00 p.m.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen has won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Maryland.
Van Hollen won Tuesday night after a long and heated primary against Rep. Donna Edwards for the seat opening due to Sen. Barbara Mikulski's retirement at the end of her term.
The campaign became a polarizing battle over race, gender and personality as the two candidates sought to succeed Mikulski, the nation's longest-serving female senator. Both candidates represent House districts that include the suburbs of the nation's capital.
Van Hollen ran on his record as a pragmatic progressive who is able to reach across the political aisle to get things done. Edwards campaigned as a candidate more committed to holding liberal principals without settling for political deals.
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9:30 p.m.
Celebrating several key wins Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton is looking to the Democratic convention, telling a crowd in the host city of Philadelphia that she'll be back.
Clinton told more than 1,300 people gathered at the Pennsylvania Convention Center that said she would be back with the most votes and pledged delegates and promised that "we will unify our party to win this election and build an America where we all rise together."
Clinton focused criticism on the Republican candidates, rather than primary opponent Bernie Sanders. She made a pitch to voters outside the Democratic party, suggesting some may not be happy with the Republican options.
"If you are a Democrat an independent or a thoughtful Republican you know that their approach is not going to build an America where we increase opportunity or decrease inequality," Clinton said.
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9:20 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is assured of winning more delegates than Bernie Sanders for the night after wins in Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania, padding her overall big lead.
She's now less than 300 delegates away from clinching the Democratic nomination - with the outcome of Connecticut still to come.
Pennsylvania and Maryland were the two biggest delegate prizes on Tuesday.
In those states plus Delaware, Clinton will win at least 142 delegates. Sanders will take at least 66. Many remain to be allocated pending final vote tallies.
That means to date, Clinton now has 1,578 delegates based on primaries and caucuses, compared to 1,232 for Sanders.
When including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate, Clinton has 2,097 compared to Sanders' 1,271.
She's now 88 percent of the way to reaching the 2,383 delegates needed to clinch.
Clinton now needs to win just 21 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to hit 2,383.
Sanders won the Rhode Island primary.
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9:15 p.m.
With a five-state sweep on Tuesday, Donald Trump is staying on his narrow path to win the Republican nomination for president by the end of the primaries.
He has to keep winning to do it, and he has little room for error.
Trump padded his lead in the race for delegates, winning at least 82 of the 118 delegates up for grabs on Tuesday.
In Pennsylvania, Trump collected 17 delegates for winning the state. An additional 54 delegates are elected directly by voters - three in each congressional district. However, their names are listed on the ballot with no information about which presidential candidate they support.
The AP delegate count:
Trump: 927.
Ted Cruz: 559.
John Kasich: 148.
Needed to win: 1,237.
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9:10 p.m.
Bernie Sanders has won the Democratic presidential primary in Rhode Island, offering the Vermont senator modest gains in the race against front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Sanders' win Tuesday blocks a potential sweep of the day's five races by Clinton, who has already won three out of the five contests.
But the former Secretary of State entered Tuesday's five primaries having already accumulated 82 percent of the delegates needed to win her party's nomination. While she can't win enough delegates to officially knock Sanders out of the race this week, her gains could make it virtually impossible for him to catch up to her in the remaining contests.
There are 384 Democratic delegates up for grabs in Tuesday's races in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
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9:00 p.m.
Hillary Clinton has won the Democratic presidential primary in Pennsylvania, further solidifying her footing in the race against Bernie Sanders.
Leading up to Tuesday's contest, Clinton had campaigned extensively in the state, which she often refers to as her ancestral home.
The former Secretary of State entered Tuesday's five primaries having already accumulated 82 percent of the delegates needed to win her party's nomination. While she can't win enough delegates to officially knock Sanders out of the race this week, she can erase any lingering doubts about her standing.
There are 384 Democratic delegates up for grabs in Tuesday's five contests. Earlier Tuesday, Clinton won the races in Maryland and Delaware.
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8:35 p.m.
Donald Trump has won the Republican primaries in Rhode Island and Delaware, sweeping all five of Tuesday's contests.
Hillary Clinton has also won her second contest of the night, winning the Democratic primary in Delaware.
The two front-runners were positioned to do well, further extending their leads against their respective rivals and bringing them closer to their party nominations.
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8:15 p.m.
Bernie Sanders is vowing to continue his Democratic primary campaign, casting himself as the stronger candidate in the general election.
Sanders noted Tuesday that the fall election is not a "closed primary." Independents, he said, "will be voting all over this country for the next president."
Clinton won the Maryland primary on Tuesday night and was expected to do well in a number of other northeastern states holding contests. Only registered Democrats were permitted to vote in those elections. Sanders has polled better with independents.
He is speaking in Huntington, W. Va.
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8:12 p.m.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is using a bit of political theater to propel his underdog presidential campaign in Indiana.
Cruz spoke Tuesday night in the gym where parts of the 1986 basketball film "Hoosiers" was made.
One of Cruz's aides is recreating one of the film's famous scenes by dropping a tape measure from the rim of the basket to show it's the same height as every other basket. Actor Gene Hackman did the same thing in the movie before his team went on to win the state championship.
After recreating the scene, Cruz says to cheers, "There is nothing that Hoosiers cannot do!"
Cruz is focusing on trying to win Indiana's primary next week to deny Trump the majority of delegates needed to capture the nomination before the national convention in July.
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8:10 p.m.
With victories in three states, Donald Trump is adding to his big lead in the race for delegates to the Republican national convention. If he keeps it up, he can stay on track to win the nomination by the end of the primaries on June 7.
Trump will win at least half of the 118 delegates up for grabs in Tuesday's contests. And he has a chance to win a lot more.
In Pennsylvania, Trump collected 17 delegates for winning the state. An additional 54 delegates are elected directly by voters - three in each congressional district. However, their names are listed on the ballot with no information about which presidential candidate they support.
The AP delegate count:
Trump: 904.
Ted Cruz: 559.
John Kasich: 148.
Needed to win: 1,237.
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8:02 p.m.
Ted Cruz says the race for the White House is now moving back to more "favorable terrain" like Indiana.
Cruz chose to speak Tuesday night in Indiana, instead of any of the five Northeastern states that were voting Tuesday.
Trump claimed early wins in Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland as polls in those three states closed.
Cruz spoke on the floor of a nearly 100-year-old basketball court where the 1986 film "Hoosiers" was shot. Cruz referenced the film about a small town team's underdog victory in the state tournament, saying "There is nothing that Hoosiers cannot do."
Cruz is hoping to rebound next week in Indiana and is focused on campaigning in the state ahead of its May 3 primary.
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8:00 p.m.
Donald Trump has won the Republican presidential primaries in Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland, giving the billionaire businessman a boost in a critical night as he seeks to shut out his opponents.
Hillary Clinton has also won the Democratic primary in Maryland.
Clinton entered Tuesday's five primaries having already accumulated 82 percent of the delegates needed to win her party's nomination. While she can't win enough delegates to officially knock Bernie Sanders out of the race this week, she can make it virtually impossible for him to catch up to her in the remaining contests.
Trump's win in Pennsylvania, the biggest prize in Tuesday's five contests, lends a boost to his embattled campaign which is facing a growing challenge from rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich who announced this week that they are teaming up to thwart his rise.
While the Republican winner in Pennsylvania gets 17 delegates up front, the other 54 are directly elected by voters. They are allowed to support any candidate they choose at the national convention, but their names are listed on the ballot with no information about whom they support, meaning that voters who haven't studied up on their choices will be voting blind.
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7:45 p.m.
A judge ordered four Baltimore precincts to stay open an hour late Tuesday because they were late in opening, delaying the release of results in Maryland primary until 9 p.m.
Rep. Donna Edwards, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, filed a request with the Baltimore Circuit Court to keep polling places in the city open until 10 p.m. because of the morning delays.
After Tuesday evening hearing that was disrupted by a small fire at the courthouse complex, Judge Althea Handy ruled that only four polling places would be kept open late.
However, the State Board of Elections will not release any results while any polling places remain open, so it won't release the results for Maryland's counties, even though their precincts were to all close at 8 p.m.
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6:52 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is spending much of Tuesday in Indiana promoting her plans for manufacturing and job creation.
Speaking at AM General, a car production plant in Mishawaka, Indiana, Clinton said she wanted to "revitalize manufacturing" as president. While she has largely steered clear of attacks on primary opponent Bernie Sanders, Clinton took one swipe at him, repeating a critique that he did not vote to fund the auto industry bailout.
Clinton said she doesn't know where "we would be if we had walked away from the auto industry. She added her "esteemed opponent in this primary voted not to provide the funding the auto industry needed."
Sanders has accused Clinton of mischaracterizing his record on the issue.
Clinton also pledged to bring people together as president, saying that "anger is not a plan."
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5:51 p.m.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is not expected to win any of the five states voting Tuesday, so he's holding a campaign rally instead inside an Indiana gym where one of the greatest sports movies about an underdog team was filmed.
Cruz plans to speak at what's known as the "Hoosier gym" in Knightstown, Indiana, which holds its primary May 3. The 1986 film "Hoosiers" starring Gene Hackman as the coach of a smalltown Indiana basketball team that wins the state championship was filmed in the nearly 100-year-old gym.
One of the film's most famous scenes is a stirring locker room pre-game speech Hackman gives his players.
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5:55 p.m.
Most Republicans going to the polls in three states Tuesday say they are voting for their candidate, rather than against his opponents.
Only a quarter of voters in Connecticut and Maryland say they voted for someone because they opposed the other candidates. And in Pennsylvania, even fewer - less than one in five - say they were casting a negative vote, according to early results of exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research.
Pennsylvania GOP voters are not quite so sanguine. While over a third would be excited by Trump Administration, the idea scares a quarter of voters. Few voters have extreme emotions about Cruz or Kasich. While either candidate's victory would prompt excitement for less than 10 percent of voters, each would produce fear in less 20 percent of voters.
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5:30 p.m.
Few Democratic voters in three states holding primary elections Tuesday have a positive view of Wall Street.
According to early results of exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research, about 6 in 10 Democrats in Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania say Wall Street hurts the American economy.
Among Republicans, voters' feelings are more mixed about the influence of the financial sector.
In Pennsylvania, nearly half of Republicans say Wall Street harms the economy and nearly 45 percent say it is a positive force.
Connecticut Republicans are slightly more positive: Nearly half say Wall Street helps the economy and about 4 in 10 say it is detrimental.
In Maryland, more than half of Republicans see Wall Street as a positive with about a third saying it does more to hurt the economy.
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5:15 p.m.
Most Democratic voters in Pennsylvania casting ballots on Tuesday say they've been energized by the closely contested primary between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
But Pennsylvania Republicans say the opposite about the heated contest between billionaire businessman Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
That's according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research.
About seven in 10 voters in Pennsylvania say the Democratic campaign has energized the party rather than divided it, while about 6 in 10 GOP voters say the Republican campaign this year has divided the party.
Only 4 in 10 Republican voters say they've been energized.
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2:50 p.m.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid says he does not think Bernie Sanders has a path to winning the Democratic presidential nomination.
Responding to questions at his weekly news conference Tuesday Reid declined to suggest Sanders should drop out or cede the ground to Hillary Clinton who's expected to post a strong showing in Tuesday's primaries.
He said Sanders is a good person who "has run a campaign that I think we've all recognized has been unique and powerful, and I think Bernie should do what he wants to do."
But asked whether Sanders has a path to the nomination Reid said: "No I do not."
He said that Sanders will do what he feels is appropriate and Sanders' No. 1 issue is what's best for the country.
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2:50 p.m.
Bernie Sanders is making his latest fundraising pitch by using a photograph of Hillary Clinton smiling up at Donald Trump that was snapped when she attended his wedding to Melania in 2005.
The Sanders email, signed by campaign manager Jeff Weaver and carrying the subject line "Trump," does not elaborate on the photo. It notes that "no matter what the Clinton campaign says, there is one candidate in this race Donald Trump said would make a great president" - meaning Clinton.
Weaver also writes that Clinton allies are accusing Sanders supporters of helping Trump by prolonging the Democratic primary.
The Sanders email arrives on a day when the Republican presidential primary leader provocatively wrote on Twitter that Sanders "has been treated terribly by the Democrats" and should run as an Independent.
Sanders faces increasingly long odds in the Democratic primary, with Clinton ahead of him both in pledged delegates awarded to state contest winners and in "super delegates" who also weigh in.
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2:45 p.m.
An FAA spokeswoman says Donald Trump's business jet is free to fly the contender for the GOP presidential nomination to campaign events once again.
Trump allowed the Cessna 750 Citation X's registration with the Federal Aviation Administration to lapse in January, but continued to fly the plane to some of his campaign appearances.
The FAA told plane's chief pilot earlier this month to stop flying the aircraft after The New York Times reported the expired registration.
FAA records show the plane was re-registered on Friday to a new owner, DT Endeavor I LLC, a limited liability company controlled by Trump. FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown confirmed that it's cleared for flying once more.
The Cessna seats up to eight people. Trump also owns a Boeing 757 airliner and three helicopters.
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11:30 a.m.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Gov. Tommy Thompson are among the 18 delegates at-large who will represent the state at the Republican national convention this summer in Cleveland.
The Wisconsin Republican Party released the delegate names on Tuesday.
Under state party rules, all 18 of them are required to vote for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the first round since he won the state primary earlier this month. They can only switch to another candidate if they are released by Cruz or he fails to get a third of the overall vote.
Walker has endorsed Cruz but said he would back the eventual Republican nominee. Thompson has campaigned for Ohio Gov. John Kasich in Wisconsin.
Other delegates include Walker's wife, Tonette Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, Attorney General Brad Schimel and state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.
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8:15 a.m.
House Speaker Paul Ryan concedes the "five-point" Republican legislative agenda he's pursuing in Congress could be construed as competing with policy points the GOP presidential candidates are pushing in the primary season. But he argues that the party shouldn't wait until its nominating convention in July to tell the public its priorities, including lowering the national debt, strengthening the military and easing government regulation of business.
In an interview on "CBS This Morning" Tuesday, Ryan says that if the party waits until its nominating convention to state its primary policy objectives, "it's too late." He says he doesn't intend to handicap the GOP presidential race or discuss the candidates since he's the party convention chairman. But Ryan adds that the GOP needs "a transition from being an opposition party to being a proposition party."
He says he's spoken to Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich - the three candidates still in the race - but doesn't elaborate. Speaking of congressional Republicans, Ryan says, "We're not worrying about something that's out of our control, which is who is the nominee."
7:45 a.m.
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says it would be a "great idea" to have a woman as vice president.
Speaking to MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Tuesday, as the polls in five Northeastern states prepared to open, Sanders said that there are many women who would be qualified and that he would consider as running mates should he win the nomination.
"Elizabeth Warren has been a real champion," Sanders said.