A Look at What Latest Voting Means for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton
— -- The 2016 presidential candidates tackled the wild, wild West Tuesday night. But, now, the battle for the White House enters a stretch of small contests in which every delegate counts.
After divided results in Arizona, Utah and Idaho, no candidate got any unexpected boost from Tuesday night’s primaries and caucuses.
And now, with only a few major contests coming in the next month, candidates must zero in on important states coming in late-April and, eventually, in early-June.
Here's what Tuesday night means for each party's front-runner and where they go from here:
Donald Trump
Republican front-runner Donald Trump took home Tuesday's biggest prize with a resounding victory in Arizona, a winner-take-all state with 58 delegates.
Still, virtually every path to clinching the nomination required a win in Arizona, so Tuesday night simply left the door open for Trump to hit the magic number of 1,237 delegates before the convention.
Still, a major Ted Cruz victory in Utah deprived Trump of any delegates there, stealing another dozen delegates that Trump will need to make up in another state if he's to cross the finish line.
With only a few winner-take-all states remaining, Trump will need to win 55 percent of the remaining delegates, a slightly faster pace than he has been moving so far.
He'll need to focus on broad wins in Midwest states like Indiana and Wisconsin, as well as deep blue states like California and New York, where most delegates are doled out to candidates who can win across most congressional districts in a state.
Hillary Clinton
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton picked up a win in Arizona Tuesday, but resounding losses in the Idaho and Utah caucuses mean she gained fewer delegates than rival Bernie Sanders.
Still, Clinton remains in a dominant position to win the Democratic nomination, needing only 37 percent of the remaining pledged delegates, even if she loses every remaining uncommitted superdelegate.
Sanders is hoping that he can rack up major victories in June 7 states to tip the balance of pledged delegates and arguing that superdelegates ought to come to his side.
But it will be an uphill climb despite some Sanders-friendly states on the calendar. Delegates on the Democratic side are allocated proportionally in every side, so a small victory in a large state can sometimes only net the winner a few delegates overall.
