Trump, Clinton win New York primary; move closer to nomination

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton today won the potentially game-changing New York primary and wrested back control of the US presidential race from their rivals, reviving hopes of winning the nomination outright.

The win gives Clinton and Trump edge over their rivals Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz and solidify their frontrunner status after a series of losses recently. It also resoundingly answers questions about their command of the race.

Trump's win means he could sweep the state's 95 delegates and position himself to win the Republican nomination without going through a contested convention in July.

Clinton's win could blunt Sanders' momentum once and for all and leave Sanders with a tough decision on how to proceed as she extends her overwhelming lead in the Democratic race.

"Today you prove once again there is no place like home... This win is personal," said Clinton, joined by her husband ex- president Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea, in her victory speech. "The race for the Democratic nomination is in the home stretch and victory is in sight."

Calling out Trump and Cruz for their remarks against Muslims and women, she said, "Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have a vision for our country that's divisive and dangerous- rounding up immigrants or banning Muslims is just not who we are."

"Threatening to ban Muslims" and treating American-Muslims like "criminal" go against "everything America stands for." "We are about lifting each other up, not tearing each other down. Our country is at its best when we come together -- no one knows that better than New Yorkers," she said.

In a passing reference to Sanders, Clinton said it was not enough to just diagnose the problem. "America is a problem-solving nation. We have set progressive goals for creating more jobs and providing dignity and pride," she said.

As polls closed, media reports said that controversial billionaire Trump, 69, and Clinton, 68, have won. Clinton, who was senator of New York for eight years, was conformably ahead of Sanders, 74, winning 59.3 per cent of the votes so far, way ahead of 40.8 per cent votes won by Sanders.

Sanders in a tweet said that he was looking ahead to the northeast and mid-Atlantic states that vote next week. "Thank you to all those who came out tonight in New York! Onward to five more states voting next week," he tweeted.

With half of the polls in, Trump, whose campaign has appalled establishment Republicans, was way ahead of Cruz and Governor John Katich, winning 61.4 per cent of the votes.

Trump's big victory in his home state gave him renewed momentum in the Republican race and pushed him closer to the 1,237 delegates required to win the nomination.

He also appeared like a different candidate in his victory spppech at his Trump Tower in Manhattan. His speech focussed on jobs and trade and the economy but did not mention Clinton.

"We don't have much of a race anymore," Trump said to applause and cheers from his supporters. "Sen Cruz is just about mathematically eliminated."

Trump told the cheering supporters that he will focus on bringing jobs back from Mexico and "all other countries" and invest in US military and its veterans.

Flanked by his family, friends and business associates, he said he will use America's great business people to negotiate "unbelievable trade deals so we bring our jobs back."

CNN predicted Trump would take the lion's share of the 95 Republican party delegates up for grabs in New York.

The billionaire real estate mogul appeared to be on pace for a massive victory and is likely to sweep most of the 95 delegates in New York. For Democrats, 291 delegates were at stake.

Clinton leads the overall delegate count with 1,307, while Sanders has 1,094 delegates. The one who clinches 2,383 delegates in all wins the party's nomination.

A total of 1,237 delegates are needed to sew up the Republican nomination. Before the New York win, Trump led the total delegate count with 743, followed by Cruz with 543 and Kasich with 144.