CHICAGO — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump picked up key victories on Tuesday in Illinois, helping the Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls move closer to securing their respective parties’ nominations.
Donald Trump picked up a victory in Illinois, beating rival Sen. Ted Cruz in the Land of Lincoln on a night when he took huge stride toward securing the GOP nomination.
On a night when she also secured victories in Florida, Ohio and North Carolina, the victory in Illinois was an important one for the former secretary of State with deep ties to Illinois.
A poll published last week by the Chicago Tribune showed Clinton, who grew up in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, with a more than 40 percentage-point lead over Sanders. But over the weekend, multiple polls had shown that her lead had disappeared.
Sanders poured plenty of time and energy into Illinois. He attempted to tie Clinton to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has seen his approval rating crater over his handling of a series of police-involved shootings in the city and the closure of 50 underused schools in Chicago’s predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods.
In addition to the Illinois victory, Trump also sealed victories in delegate-rich Florida and North Carolina.
"We had a fantastic evening," a relatively subdued Trump told supporters in Florida Tuesday. "I would have never thought this could happen."
Trump’s standing with voters in Illinois did not appear to be tarnished after he decided last week to cancel a big rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago campus because of security concerns.
Following the cancellation, both his GOP rivals and Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders took Trump to task, accusing the real estate mogul fueling a toxic environment at his political rallies with his rhetoric.
But a plurality of Illinois’ GOP voters appeared to dismiss the criticism and gave Trump a chance. With 94% of precincts reporting, Trump had a 39%-to-30.5% lead over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
“He’s a businessman, and he can get things done,” said August Schweppe, 83, of Wheaton, who voted for Trump. “He’s got a bad mouth, but what can I do about that?”
With big wins in Florida, North Carolina and Ohio already under her belt on Tuesday, Clinton's victory in Illinois further diminishes Sanders' hopes of winning the nomination.
Voters in Illinois headed to the polls on Tuesday to cast ballots in a presidential nomination battle that has been hard fought on both the Democratic and Republican sides.
"We are moving closer to winning the Democratic Party nomination and winning this election in November," Clinton told supporters Tuesday.
Interest in the battle to replace President Obama, who calls Chicago home and served four years as Illinois' U.S. senator, is huge here. Early voting in Chicago and suburban Cook County — where more than 5 million of the state's 12.9 million residents live — smashed previous records. Nearly 130,000 early ballots had been cast in the city and nearby suburbs as of Friday. The previous record for a primary was set in 2008, when more than 81,000 people in Chicago and the Cook County suburbs cast early ballots.
Gia Arizpe, 26, said that her decision to back Clinton was motivated in part by Clinton's "pragmatism."
"As much as I love Bernie Sanders' enthusiasm, I don't believe he can get things done, particularly if it remains a Republican Congress," said Arizpe, after voting at a polling station on the city's North Side.
Voter Rebekah
Zhao said it was a "close" call for her, but she ultimately decided to vote for Sanders. The Vermont senator's pledge to push for legislation to make public colleges and universities tuition-free if he's elected particularly resonated with Zhao.
"My son's college next year is going to cost me more than I make," Zhao said. "I like Clinton too. It was really very tough for me."
Illinois voters received plenty of attention ahead of Tuesday's vote from Trump and Cruz. Polls published over the weekend showed that Trump that the Texas senator had approached striking distance of Trump.
Cruz spent part of Monday campaigning in the Chicago suburbs as he looked to pull off an upset.
Don Creelman, of the Chicago suburb of Lombard, said that he decided to back Cruz, in part, because he believes he's the only one that can beat Trump.
"(Cruz) has been very anti-establishment since he went to Washington and doesn't play well with others," said Creelman. "That's a good thing (to have in a candidate) when you talk about dealing with the establishment. Those guys need to be taken by the ears and kicked in the head.
"Trump is a buffoon," Creelman added.
Follow USA TODAY Chicago correspondent Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad
