Democratic front runner former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 68, won in Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Illinois on her best night of the 2016 campaign season. She put more distance between herself and rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The wins for Clinton added to her lead of more than 200 pledged delegates over Sanders and gave her an almost insurmountable edge over him. Sanders only win came in Missouri and because of the closeness of the race Clinton still picked up some delegates.
Clinton picked up crucial victories in Ohio and Illinois, more than made up for her loss to Sanders in Michigan.
“We are moving closer to securing the Democratic Party nomination and winning this election in November,” Clinton said in a victory speech in West Palm Beach, Florida.
She added that by the end of the night, she would have two million more votes than rival Bernie Sanders, and hold a lead of more than 300 in the delegate count. While she did not urge Sanders to quit the race so she could turn her fire on Trump, her comments appeared to be a gentle message to her stronger-than-expected challenger.
She also said that she expected Sen. Sanders to stay in the race all the way to California and be a factor at the convention in Philadelphia.
