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[h=4]Trump knocks Rubio out of race with Florida win; Kasich takes Ohio[/h]Marco Rubio pulls out of race after blowout loss in Florida
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John Kasich thanked supporters after winning Ohio and vowed to go "all the way" to secure the Republican nomination. VPC
Donald Trump thanks supporters after delivering remarks on March 15, 2016, in Palm Beach, Fla.(Photo: Win McNamee, Getty Images)
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Donald Trump took<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Florida and two other states<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on Tuesday,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>but lost Ohio to John Kasich, leaving open the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>prospect<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of a drawn-out, delegate-by-delegate struggle for the Republican presidential nomination at the July convention.
Winning Florida easily and claiming all 99 convention delegates in the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>winner-take-all primary, Trump also knocked out home-state senator<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Marco Rubio from the Republican presidential race.
"We're going to win, win, win,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and we're not stopping," Trump told supporters gathered at his<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Mar-A-Lago Club in Palm Beach. "We're going to have great victories for our country."
News networks also projected<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Trump wins<span style="color: Red;">*</span>over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in Illinois and North Carolina.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The race remained<span style="color: Red;">*</span>too close to call in Missouri, where the Republican front-runner<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was locked in a tight battle with Cruz,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>currently second to Trump<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in convention delegates.
Trump added to his lead in Republican delegates Tuesday, but he does not yet have the 50%-plus-one total he needs to actually clinch the nomination — and his remaining rivals said they will work to block him from reaching that level.
Claiming<span style="color: Red;">*</span>victory in his home state of Ohio — giving him 66 delegates —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Kasich credited his positive campaign style and vowed<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to challenge Trump<span style="color: Red;">*</span>all the way to the Republican convention in July.
USA TODAY
Tuesday primaries: State-by-state roundups
"We're going to go all the way to Cleveland and secure the Republican nomination," the Ohio governor said.
Cruz also vowed to press on, telling backers that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"only two campaigns have a plausible path to the nomination," his and Trump's.
Rubio, blown out by Trump in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>his home state, said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he would exit<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the race, telling supporters in Miami that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"America is in the middle of a real political storm, a tsunami, and we should have seen this coming."
While slamming "the politics of resentment," the first-term senator<span style="color: Red;">*</span>who had previously predicted that the winner of the Florida primary<span style="color: Red;">*</span>would win the GOP nomination congratulated Trump on his victory.
"It is not God’s plan that I be president in 2016 or maybe ever," said Rubio.
During his speech, a Trump supporter heckled Rubio by shouting out the businessman's name.
Marco Rubio, flanked by his family, speaks at a primary night rally on March 15, 2016 in Miami, where he announced he was suspending his campaign.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Angel Valentin, Getty Images)
Trump himself<span style="color: Red;">*</span>praised Rubio for running a tough campaign, and said "he's got a great future."
During the campaign, Rubio said he believed the winner of the Florida primary would be the Republican nominee -- a statement<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Trump re-tweeted after his victory<span style="color: Red;">*</span>with the comment, "thank you, Marco, I agree."
Kasich and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Rubio both<span style="color: Red;">*</span>faced must-win primaries in their home states of Ohio and Florida, while Cruz<span style="color: Red;">*</span>had<span style="color: Red;">*</span>looked for upset wins in the other states as part of an effort to block the businessman from claiming<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a majority of delegates before the GOP convention.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump predicted he would do well<span style="color: Red;">*</span>because of the new blue-collar voters he has attracted into<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Republican primaries.
Democrats, independents, and people who have never voted before are flocking to his candidacy, Trump told backers in Palm Beach, and "it's an incredible thing."
After voting in Ohio on Tuesday, Kasich<span style="color: Red;">*</span>told reporters, "we're going to win — I feel terrific." The governor<span style="color: Red;">*</span>had not won<span style="color: Red;">*</span>any Republican contests prior to his victory in Ohio.
Kasich, who has been increasingly critical of Trump over "deeply disturbing" things the front-runner<span style="color: Red;">*</span>has said and done, also ruled out any kind of alliance with the New York businessman, such as serving as his<span style="color: Red;">*</span>running mate.
USA TODAY
Who's winning the night? Big moments from Tuesday's primaries
"There’s no way I would team up with Donald Trump,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Kasich said on Fox & Friends. "No way. Forget it.."
Kasich indicated that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he will take a more aggressive approach<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to the front-running Trump, telling reporters he will be "forced going forward to talk about some of the deep concerns I have about the way this campaign has been run by some others — by one other, in particular."
John Kasich celebrates his Ohio primary victory on March 15, 2016 in Berea, Ohio.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Brendan Smialowski, AFP/Getty Images)
Trump figures to return the favor. He unleashed a barrage of tweets against the Ohio governor, saying in one missive: "Watching John Kasich being interviewed —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>acting so innocent and like such a nice guy. Remember him in second debate, until I put him down."
USA TODAY
Rubio tries to pull off a Florida comeback
Rubio and Kasich had blasted Trump for lacking<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the temperament to be president. They said his economic ideas, including proposed tariffs on foreign goods, would spike up prices and bring on a recession, and that he would lose a general election in the fall to likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
"I think his nomination insures Hillary Clinton's election," Rubio said before the votes were tallied.
During the campaign, Trump criticized Kasich as an absentee governor who has supported bad trade deals that have hurt Ohio workers. The New York businessman has hit Rubio as an ineffective senator who has been weak on trade and immigration.
Trump also picked up an early win on Tuesday in the Northern Mariana Islands, a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>U.S. territory<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in the Pacific Ocean. The<span style="color: Red;">*</span>real estate mogul<span style="color: Red;">*</span>won 73% in island Republican caucuses<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and took<span style="color: Red;">*</span>all nine delegates.
It takes 1,237 delegates — 50% of the delegates, plus one — to clinch the GOP nomination, and Trump passed the half-way point Tuesday night.
USA TODAY
Elections 2016 | USA TODAY Network
USA TODAY
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