• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, April 27, 2016

Last night’s primary results could have sealed the deal for both front-runners.

Donald Trump had another spectacular night, winning over 50% of the vote in all five states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. He won over 60% of the vote in Rhode Island and Delaware and is poised to win the vast majority of available delegates.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won four out of the five states, dropping Rhode Island to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Despite his win in Rhode Island, Clinton still leaves the state with the majority of delegates.

The Sanders campaign is now facing a near impossible task of catching up to Hillary Clinton in terms of delegate numbers. His campaign is also starting to waver.

Top Sanders adviser Tad Devine told The New York Times that the campaign would reassess its options following last night’s results. Sanders’ wife, Jane, quickly muted Devine’s comments, rejecting the notion that the campaign would reevaluate their strategy.

The Sanders campaign looks to be flailing slightly, as it has now become relatively clear that the nomination is Clinton’s. Quoting Rachel Maddow of MSNBC: “She has effectively put this out of reach.”

As for the GOP contenders, their “pact” looks to have completely fallen apart two days after the campaigns announced a strategic relationship. Ohio Gov. John Kasich was supposed to cede Indiana to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, but Kasich devotees in the state have refused to leave the door open for Cruz.

Both Cruz and Kasich don’t seem to have taken the hint from Trump’s huge wins. Kasich is definitely sticking around: “America deserves a president that will make us proud. John Kasich’s fight will continue,” tweeted the Kasich team. At a rally in Indiana, Cruz likened Trump to Clinton in a bid to highlight the GOP front-runner’s liberal tendencies, telling the crowd that they are “both big government liberals.”

Donald Trump, on the other hand, “all but declared himself the GOP nominee,” as Politico wrote in its post-primary email blast. They also highlighted that David Plouffe, Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, believes the nominating race is now over, having tweeted: “First Trump-Clinton debate will be global phenomenon.”

As it stands, Hillary Clinton is a mere 232 delegates from securing the nomination. She has accumulated 1,267 delegates (including superdelegates) and needs a total of 1,383 to put the nomination out of reach. With 954 delegates to his name, Donald Trump must win 283 of the remaining 616 delegates to hit the magic number of 1,237.