2nd LD Writethru: Trump notches crucial victory in Florida, Rubio drops out

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday won a crucial victory in the winner-take-all Florida primary, giving a fatal blow to Florida Senator Marco Rubio who suspended his campaign Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, with already three victories in hand, was poised to have a sweeping victory in contests within her party.

The commanding victory for Trump in Florida came as he pocketed all 99 delegates up for grab. It is part of Trump's campaign plan to secure the Republican nomination with an insurmountable lead over his rivals.

However, Trump was defeated by Ohio Governor John Kasich in Ohio in another crucial winner-take-all primary with 66 delegates at stake.

With polling results still trickling in, Trump on later Tuesday night was projected to win Illinois and North Carolina, too. He is currently leading in Missouri, ahead of Kasich and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, the two candidates still in the once crowded GOP race.

Despite his expected sweeping victories across the board, Trump's loss in Ohio could mean an uphill battle for the New York billionaire developer to gain enough delegates to win the party nomination before the Republican convention in July.

To win the Republican nomination, a candidate must win at least 1,237 delegates.

The results on Tuesday came at a time when Trump was widely questioned as to whether he was doing enough to stem violence at his rallies in the wake of confrontation between his supporters and protesters at a rally in Chicago on Friday.

Rubio, who dropped out of the race on Tuesday, fired a last shot at Trump in his farewell speech.

"I ask the American people ... do not give in to the fear, do not give in to the frustration," he said, referring to Trump's past controversial remarks about illegal immigrants and religion, which seemed to resonate with the electorate in the chaotic election cycle.

"We can disagree about public policy. We can disagree vibrantly and passionately. But we are a hopeful people," said Rubio.

Trump drew widespread criticism last June when he said in his presidential announcement speech that Mexico was sending "rapists" and drug dealers to the United States. Since that, the New York billionaire developer had repeatedly vowed, if elected president, to deport about 11 million undocumented immigrants from the United States.

In another outburst of emotional remarks, Trump called for a "total and complete" ban on Muslims entering the United States in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks last year.

However, his blunt and sometimes incendiary remarks about Latino immigrants and Muslims never seemed to take their toll on his polling numbers.

Since last September, Trump had stood atop virtually all Republican polls. According to the RealClearPolitic polling average, Trump now enjoyed 36 percent of national support within the party, trailed by his nearest challenger Cruz at 21.8 percent.

According to a Washington Post analysis released in December, Trump's support skewed male, white, poor and uneducated.

On the Democratic side, Clinton took a huge step toward sealing the party nomination with big victories in the crucial swing states of Florida and Ohio.

Clinton also won North Carolina and was likely to score a victory in Illinois.

Clinton's triumph on Tuesday, especially a previously unsure victory in the midwest state of Ohio, dealt a strong blow to Senator Bernie Sanders, who attempted to use a victory in Ohio to further build momentum after a surprising upset over Clinton last week in Michigan, as the contests now moved out of Clinton's strongholds in the South.

Clinton entered contests on Tuesday with an all but insurmountable delegate lead over Sanders. According to the latest New York Time delegate count, she now led Sanders by at least 340 delegates. Endi