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ByJuliePaceand Thomas Beaumont TheAssociatedPress CLEVELAND Hillary Clin- ton triumphed Tuesday in the Florida, Ohio and North Carolina presiden- tial primaries, putting her in a commanding position to become the first woman in U.S. history to win a ma- jor party nomination. Don- ald Trump strengthened his hand in the Republi- can race with a big win in Florida but fell in Ohio to that state's governor, John Kasich. Florida Sen. Marco Ru- bio ended his once-promis- ing campaign after his dev- astating home-state loss, so the GOP primary is now down to three candidates: Trump, Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Trump also picked up wins in North Carolina and Illinois, and was locked in a close race with Cruz in Missouri. The billionaire busi- nessman told a victory rally, "This was an amaz- ing night." Trump is the only Re- publican candidate with a realistic path to the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination before the July convention. But his loss in Ohio kept hope alive for mainstream Republi- cans dismayed by his can- didacy and suggesting the real estate mogul can still be stopped in a convention fight. "The campaign goes on," Kasich declared at a vic- tory rally. Now thrust into the center of a campaign that has been bitingly per- sonal, Kasich vowed to "not take the low road to the highest office in the land." A confident Clinton piv- oted quickly to November during her victory rally, as- sailing Trump's hardline immigration positions and support for torture. "Our commander-in-chief has to be able to defend our coun- try, not embarrass it," she declared. Underscoring Republi- can concerns about Trump, Rubio focused heavily on an implicit critique of Trump in a speech an- nouncing he was dropping out of the race. The senator urged Americans to "not give in to the fear, do not give in to the frustration." A favorite of Republican leaders, Rubio is the latest candidate to fall victim to an unpredictable elec- tion cycle and Trump's un- matched ability to tap into the public's anger with Washington and frustra- tion with sweeping eco- nomic changes. Clinton's victories in Ohio and Florida were a blow to rival Bernie Sand- ers and bolstered her ar- gument that she's the best Democratic candidate to take on the eventual Re- publican nominee in the general election. Her win in Ohio was a particular relief for her campaign, which grew anxious after Sanders pulled off a sur- prising win last week in Michigan, another impor- tant Midwestern state. Clinton kept up her large margins with black voters, a crucial group for Demo- crats in the general elec- tion. Democratic voters were more likely to de- scribe Sanders as honest, but more likely to describe Clinton's policies as realis- tic, according to exit polls. Campaigning Tuesday in North Carolina, Clinton said "the numbers are add- ing up in my favor." She sig- naled an eagerness to move on to a possible general election showdown with Trump, saying he's laid out a "really dangerous path" for the country. Votes were also being counted Tuesday in Mis- souri, though races in both parties were too close to call. Sanders and Clinton were locked in a close con- test in Illinois. Trump entered Tues- day's primaries embroiled in one of the biggest con- troversies of his conten- tious campaign. The GOP front-runner has encour- aged supporters to con- front protesters at his events and is now facing accusations of encourag- ing violence after skir- mishes at a rally last week in Chicago. The atmosphere at his events has deepened the concern over his candidacy in some Republican circles. Rubio and Kasich have sug- gested they might not be able to support Trump if he's the nominee, an ex- traordinary stance for in- traparty rivals. His closest competition so far has come from Cruz, who has kept relatively close to the businessman in the delegate count and has been urging other can- didates to drop out so he can take Trump on one- on-one. Even before Tuesday's re- sults, a group of conserva- tives was planning a meet- ing to discuss options for stopping Trump, includ- ing at a contested conven- tion or by rallying around a third-party candidate. While such no candidate has been identified, the participants in Tuesday's meeting planned to discuss ballot access issues, includ- ing using an existing third party as a vehicle or secur- ing signatures for an inde- pendent bid. A person familiar with the planning confirmed the meeting on the condi- tion of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the gathering by name. Despite concerns from party leaders, Republican voters continue to back Trump's most controversial proposals, with two-thirds of those who participated in GOP primaries Tuesday saying they support tem- porarily banning Muslims from the United States. The exit polls were con- ducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks. Trump's Florida victory brought his delegate total to 619. Cruz has 394 and Kasich 136. Rubio left the race with 167 delegates. Clinton has at least 1,488 delegates, including the superdelegates who are elected officials and party leaders free to support the candidate of their choice. Sanders has at least 704. It takes 2,383 to win the Democratic nomination. 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