As it happenedended

Indiana primary live: Ted Cruz drops out of the race as Donald Trump crushed him in Indiana

Polls opened at 6am in the 'Hoosier' state

New York

Tuesday 03 May 2016 13:20 BST

Hillary Clinton's predicted 2.5m popular vote margin will count for nothing (AP)

Indiana may very well be the state that decides both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump nominations for the parties. Mr Trump was projected as the state's Republican primary winner just as the polls closed.

Ted Cruz then unexpectedly suspended his presidential campaign, saying he saw no path forward.

In the Democratic race, Bernie Sanders beat out Mrs Clinton in the state's Democratic primary.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz - recovering from last week’s Super Tuesday sweep by Mr Trump - was hoping to slow down the real estate mogul’s runaway train to the Republican convention.

Mr Sanders is hoping that his appeal to white, working-class voters will keep his campaign alive after a series of losses to Ms Clinton. Mr Sanders is adamant that his campaign will stay in the race and fight for superdelegates at the Democratic convention.

Democratic and Republican candidates are fighting for a total of 83 and 57 delegates, respectively.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are expected to win, possibly clinching their presumptive nominations.
Polls close at 6pm ET - earlier than previous primaries. However, some western Indiana counties are in the central time zone will close an hour later - at 6pm CT.
Indiana Gov Mike Pence has endorsed Ted Cruz, but praised Donald Trump for his “voice in the national debate”.
Mr Trump leads Mr Cruz in polls 43.8 per cent to 32 per cent; Ms Clinton leads Mr Sanders in polls 50 per cent to 43.2 per cent - according to RealClear Politics averages.
Despite Ms Clinton's efforts to appeal to appeal to working-class white voters in the state - many of whom favour the Vermont senator - Mr Sanders could upset the former Secretary of State.

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Mark Salter, the speechwriter for Sen John McCain's 2008 campaign, suggested he endorses Hillary Clinton in a tweet posted Tuesday morning.

Feliks Garcia3 May 2016 19:34

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Hillary Clinton has her sights set on the general election in November.

In an interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, Ms Clinton said she has a "tough campaign" ahead, presuming it would be against Donald Trump.

“I’m really focused on moving into the general election," the Democratic frontrunner said. “And I think that’s where we have to be, because we’re going to have a tough campaign against a candidate who will literally say or do anything. And we’re going to take him on at every turn on what’s really important to the people of our country.”

She added that she will try to focus her attacks against Mr Trump on policy and qualifications.

“He has given no indication that he understands the gravity of the responsibilities that go with being commander-in-chief,” she added. “And that will be a big part of my campaign because, at some point, he’s going to have to be held to the standard we hold anybody running for president and commander-in-chief.”

Mr Trump has brought his shoot-from-the-hip attitude to the primaries, which have resulted in name-calling matches between Mr Trump and Sen Ted Cruz - with the real estate mogul suggesting that Mr Cruz's father was somehow involved in the JFK assassination. In response, Mr Cruz called Mr Trump a "pathological liar" and "serial philanderer".

Feliks Garcia3 May 2016 19:56

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VERY early, but here are some results with 1 per cent reporting:Republicans:

Donald Trump: 61.4 per cent

Ted Cruz: 23.8 per cent

John Kasich: 11.7 per cent

Democrats:

Hillary Clinton: 63.8 per cent

Bernie Sanders: 36.2 per cent

Payton Guion3 May 2016 23:19

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The latest polls ahead of the Indiana Primary