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Trump gets big win in New York GOP primary

Trump's win slows the momentum of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who had narrowed the delegate gap with several consecutive wins, the most recent being Wisconsin.

NEW YORK — Donald Trump scored an easy win in Tuesday's New York primary and seemed poised to claim the vast majority of his home state's 95 delegates as he re-energized his front-running presidential bid.

"We don't have much of a race anymore," Trump said during a victory celebration at Trump Tower, the same venue where he launched his presidential campaign in June.

Trump, who arrived on stage to the sounds of Frank Sinatra's song "New York, New York," said rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich will be unable to win a majority of delegates before the Republican convention opens July 18, and that "it's impossible" for them to catch him.

In order to take all 95 of New York's delegates, Trump would have to win more than 50% of the the votes statewide, and more than 50% in each of New York's 27 congressional districts. Early returns were inconclusive.

"This has been an amazing week," Trump told supporters.

Republican rivals Kasich and Cruz still hoped to pick up some delegates in the Empire State. Some networks projected that Kasich would finish a distant second in New York, with Cruz in third.

The Republican presidential race now heads to other northern and eastern states where Trump is expected to do well. Five states hold primaries next Tuesday — Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut, and Rhode Island — and Cruz and Kasich have already begun campaigning in those places..

"This is the year of the outsider," Cruz told a crowd in Philadelphia. "I’m an outsider."

The Texas senator remains second in the GOP delegate chase, but will likely fall more than 200 delegates behind Trump in the wake of the New York results.

Kasich, speaking at a town hall Tuesday in Annapolis, Md., predicted a "deadlocked" convention that would give him a chance.

"There are no rules for the convention,” Kasich said. “None have been created yet and even if they create rules, you can be nominated from the floor.”

Trump, who stressed his opposition to existing trade deals and his status as a political outsider during his New York campaign, appeared to be rallying following weeks of reversals.

After a double-digit loss to Cruz in the Wisconsin primary April 5, Trump watched as the Texas senator scooped up groups of delegates at various state conventions and meetings in recent days. Trump accused Cruz and Republican officials of trying to "steal" the nomination from him via a "rigged" delegate selection process.

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