Democratic presidential candidate
Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday took four out of the five
presidential contests up for grabs.
Clinton's victories in Ohio, Florida,
Illinois and North Carolina nearly doubled her delegate lead against
her primary rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Appearing in West Palm Beach, Florida,
Clinton told a boisterous crowd of supporters that she was “moving
closer to securing the Democratic Party nomination and winning this
election in November.”
Clinton is narrowly leading in
Missouri, but the vote there is so close that a recount is possible.
Tuesday's victories came just a week
after Sanders won a stunning upset in Michigan.
On the Republican side, Donald Trump
took three states – Florida, Illinois and North Carolina – while
Ohio Governor John Kasich won his home state. Missouri is also too
close to call for Republicans, but Trump is currently leading.
Trump's win in Florida pushed Florida
Senator Marco Rubio out of the race.
(Related: Marco
Rubio ends presidential campaign after losing Florida primary.)
Clinton criticized the GOP frontrunner
in her victory speech.
“When we hear a candidate for
president call for rounding up 12 million immigrants, banning all
Muslims from entering the United States, and he embraces torture,
that doesn't make him strong, it makes him wrong! … To be great, we
can't be small, we can't lose what made America great in the first
place,” she said, a reference to Trump's campaign slogan, “Make
America Great Again.”