Another Tuesday of voting meant another chunk of delegates up for grabs. There were more than 1,000 delegates at stake in contests in five states and a territory: voters went to the polls in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio and in the Northern Mariana Islands. (See full results here).
NPR spoke with campaign surrogates and political leaders throughout the night. They reacted to Marco Rubio's campaign suspension, John Kasich's much-anticipated win in Ohio, and looked ahead to how the results and winnowed field would affect the rest of the presidential race.
If you didn't follow along live, catch up with those interviews below.
A Conservative Alternative
Stuart Stevens, GOP Strategist:
"If Donald Trump is the nominee, in all likelihood, there needs to be a place for conservatives to vote ... And we've just never had in modern history not an alternative on the ballot which is conservative. If it was Clinton and Trump you would not have a conservative alternative. "
Listen to Stuart Stevens' full interview below:
A Path to Nomination
Tad Devine, senior advisor to Bernie Sanders:
"[In] the second half of the process, Bernie Sanders is going to look as good as the first half looked for Hillary Clinton. I think we can make up the delegate advantage she has right now and I think we have a path to the nomination."
Listen to Tad Devine's full interview below:
'There's going to be bruises and hurt feelings'
Joe Gruters, Florida campaign co-chairman for Donald Trump:
"There's no questions during primaries there's going to be bruises and hurt feelings at the end of the day, people are going to come together. Especially the republicans who have done it time and time again. We're going to be united as a party going forward to face a real challenge and that's the November race."
Listen to Joe Gruter's full interview below:
'A point where we have a contested convention'
Mary Taylor, Ohio lieutenant governor. Taylor is a campaign surrogate for John Kasich.
"We know potentially if we go into a convention in this summer and July in Cleveland without any candidate having enough delegates we could get to a point where we have a contested convention. And obviously we think John Kasich will do very well. He has the right experience the right track record, he can not only say he's going to do something but he has the record to prove that he's done it before. "
Listen to Mary Taylor's full interview below:
Not the Best the Party Has to Offer
Arizona Rep. Trent Franks. He has endorsed Ted Cruz:
"I truly believe that Donald Trump is not the best this party has to offer in terms of his disposition, his record, and his assimilation on so many different issues."
Listen to Trent Franks' full interview below:
Is It About Attention?
Michael D'Antonio, journalist and author of Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success:
"It's the only thing that drives him. The pursuit of more money, more fame, more power and ultimately more attention. He has a bottomless insatiable need to be noticed and be appreciated. In some cases, feared. This game that he's playing with inciting people's' fears, playing to their rage. There have been many moments in his life when he's played dangerous games with people's feelings and racial relations and gotten away with it. It's how he gets attention."
Listen to Michael D'Antonio's full interview below:
'It's nothing but anger'
Ambassador Francis Rooney. He is the former ambassador to the Holy See:
"We're dealing with an anger, it's nothing but anger. Anger and frustration. But we're all frustrated, at least maybe people of my ideology are frustrated. Frustration and anger can translate itself in many ways. And none of our candidates other than Trump has been able to convert that anger and frustration into votes."
Listen to Francis Rooney's full interview below:
Clinton Winning Ohio
Brian Fallon, national press secretary for Hillary Clinton:
"I think that Ohio is a state that Sen. Sanders coming off of the Michigan victory had targeted and put a lot of money in. I think that he thought that his message would translate well there. We felt Ohio was an important state for us. And to potentially have victories in two general election battlegrounds like Florida and Ohio. I think is a very important statement by our campaign in terms of the breadth of Hillary Clinton's support among Democrats."
Listen to Brian Fallon's full interview below:
Trusting Clinton
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown. He has endorsed Hillary Clinton:
"I think people are beginning ... people as they watch this, they trust Hillary to fight for middle class. They trust her on her manufacturing policies, and moving state in right direction, moving the country in the right direction. So I'm not really that surprised she's having a good night tonight."
Listen to Sherrod Brown's full interview below:
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