Donald Trump swept all five Republican primary contests held Tuesday, racking up significant wins in Delaware, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton also got close to a sweep in contests in the same states, winning in four of the five northeastern state primaries. Clinton prevailed in Delaware, Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania, while NBC News projected a win for Sanders in Rhode Island.
The victories for Trump are sure to translate into bigger-than-expected delegate hauls that will move him closer to clinching his party's nomination. Rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich had hoped to rob Trump of as many delegates as possible by notching strong performances in favorable pockets of each state, but even those small victories largely failed to materialize.
In a press conference, Trump told reporters that he does consider himself "the presumptive nominee" at this point.
Clinton also turned her attention to the general election, calling for party unity in her remarks Tuesday night even as Sanders vowed to press on with his campaign despite all-but-impossible odds of catching his rival in the delegate race.
Follow our live blog below for all the news and analysis of Tuesday's primaries.
LIVE BLOG: KEYSTONE TUESDAY
General Election Showdown Begins to Take Shape
That's all for tonight. Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz and John Kasich will likely have Hump Day headaches on Wednesday as they face tough questions about the continued viability of their campaigns. Of that group, Sanders was the only one to notch a victory in the five primaries that took place Tuesday.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, however, strengthened their grasps on their parties nominations with another round of commanding performances. Their victory speeches each indicated a shifting focus on a general election matchup between the two.
You can catch all the night's action below:
Is Sanders Changing Focus From Nomination to Party Platform?
Bernie Sanders indicated in a statement Tuesday that his campaign may now be focused more on influencing the Democratic party platform than on capturing the presidential nomination.
"The people in every state in this country should have the right to determine who they want as president and what the agenda of the Democratic Party should be," Sanders said in a statement. "That's why we are in this race until the last vote is cast. That is why this campaign is going to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia with as many delegates as possible to fight for a progressive party platform."
Sanders won only in Rhode Island on Tuesday and has struggled in closed primaries where independents are unable to vote. However, the statement is also unequivocal in its message that Sanders plans to continue his campaign despite recent struggles.
Trump: Clinton Wouldn't Break 5% If She Was a Man
In his victory speech Tuesday, Donald Trump did not back down from bringing Hillary Clinton's gender into the 2016 discussion:
"If Hillary Clinton was a man I don't think she'd get 5% of the vote" - Trump
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