Republican front-runner Donald Trump faces a week of critical primary elections that could see his political dominance grow at the risk of even wider party divisions in one of the most chaotic presidential campaigns in generations.
Perhaps most crucial is Tuesday’s winner-take-all contest in Ohio, where the billionaire real estate mogul is up against the state’s popular governor, John Kasich. Trump has called the governor “a baby,” and Kasich has suggested that Trump and the violence at some of his rallies represent a “dark side” of American society.
Also at stake Tuesday are Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Florida, with the total number of delegates in play accounting for more than a quarter of the 1,237 necessary for the party’s nomination.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz argues that only he can keep Trump from reaching the required majority of delegates, while Florida Senator Marco Rubio tries merely to remain relevant, hoping home-state voters defy the polls and give him a reason to stay in the race.
Trump tried Sunday to shift attention away from the intense criticism that followed Friday’s harrowing scenes in Chicago, where he cancelled a scheduled rally amid sometimes violent confrontations among his supporters, protesters and authorities. At a Saturday rally, a protester stormed the stage as Trump spoke, only to be subdued by Secret Service agents.
A sceptical Kasich reversed his months-long practice of avoiding the topic of Trump. While talking to AP, he read a list of Trump quotes compiled by an aide that included comments that his audiences should “hit back” a little more and that he’d like to “punch” a protester “in the face.”
Trump answered by portraying Kasich as weak and deliberately mispronounced his rival’s Czech surname.
Among the Democrats, Hillary Clinton carries an edge of more than 200 pledged delegates into Tuesday’s contests and could effectively block rival Bernie Sanders’ path to victory with a sweep of the large states on Tuesday.
While the delegates will be awarded proportionately, Clinton’s support with superdelegates — elected officials and party leaders free to back whomever they’d like — puts her in a strong position to win the nomination.
Currently, Clinton holds 1,231 of total delegates, more than half the amount needed to clinch the nomination. Sanders has 576. But Sanders pulled an upset last week in Michigan, where polls had showed Clinton leading by as many as 20 points.