Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump take lead into weekend primaries

Big wins by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on Super Tuesday propels the presidential campaign into primaries this weekend from Kansas to Maine.

Trump will face Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich in Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Maine on Saturday and in Puerto Rico on Sunday. In all, 178 Republican delegates will be divvied up this weekend.

Clinton faces Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in contests Saturday in Kansas, Louisiana and Nebraska and in Maine on Sunday. At stake this weekend are 156 Democratic delegates to the nominating convention this summer.

But as the less populous states weigh in, there’s less polling to reliably say how the race will change, if at all this, in the weekend in primaries caucuses, said politics Professor Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

“It’s possible that Rubio and Cruz are going to split the vote enough to allow Trump to come out ahead,” Sabato said Friday. He also said that Kentucky may go big for Trump, based on his strong showing in similar coal-mining counties in the Virginia primary on March 1.

Louisiana would, under traditional assumptions, go for Cruz from adjacent Texas.

“But Louisiana is made to order for Trump,” Sabato said. “It’s a populist state, always has been. But I wouldn’t be shocked if Cruz wins on the geographic issue.”

As for the Democrats?

“Obviously, Hillary Clinton is clearly on track to win the nomination,” said political science Professor Meenekshi Bose of Hofstra University, director of the Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency. “But I think the real question for the Clinton campaign is how they address the Sanders voters and that’s really a question of coalition building. It’s not an easy thing to do by any means.”

Polls show Clinton and Trump are likely to win the bulk of the delegates and extend their leads. But in part this weekend’s busy slate builds tension for the winner-take-all primaries on March 15 in Ohio — Kasich’s home state — and Florida — Rubio’s home state — to see if Trump’s momentum can be stalled.

All eyes are on the March 15 primaries and “so the next 11 days are critical,” Bose said.

Those are key states for Democrats, too. Sanders has spent a lot of time campaigning in Ohio whoever wins the Democratic nomination will likely need to win Ohio.

Going into the rest of this busy month’s primaries and caucuses, Trump has 319 delegates, Cruz has 226, Rubio has 110 and Kasich has 25. A candidate needs 1,237 delegates to win the GOP nomination.

Clinton had 1,058 delegates to Sanders’ 431. To seal the nomination, a candidate needs 2,283 delegates.

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.