(cnn) donald trump and hillary clinton came home to new york and both won big.









trump used his dominating victory as an opportunity to make his case that the only way he'll be denied the republican nomination is if the game is rigged.









hillary clinton launched her presidential bid on april 12 through a video message on social media. the former first lady, senator and secretary of state is considered the front-runner among possible democratic candidates."everyday americans need a champion, and i want to be that champion -- so you can do more than just get by -- you can get ahead. and stay ahead," she said in her announcement video. "because when families are strong, america is strong. so i'm hitting the road to earn your vote, because it's your time. and i hope you'll join me on this journey."









ohio gov. john kasich joined the republican field july 21 as he formally announced his white house bid. "i am here to ask you for your prayers, for your support ... because i have decided to run for president of the united states," kasich told his kickoff rally at the ohio state university.









ohio gov. john kasich joined the republican field july 21 as he formally announced his white house bid. "i am here to ask you for your prayers, for your support ... because i have decided to run for president of the united states," kasich told his kickoff rally at the ohio state university.









sen. ted cruz of texas has made a name for himself in the senate, solidifying his brand as a conservative firebrand willing to take on the gop's establishment. he announced he was seeking the republican presidential nomination in a speech on march 23."these are all of our stories," cruz told the audience at liberty university in virginia. "these are who we are as americans. and yet for so many americans, the promise of america seems more and more distant."









businessman donald trump announced june 16 at his trump tower in new york city that he is seeking the republican presidential nomination. this ends more than two decades of flirting with the idea of running for the white house."so, ladies and gentlemen, i am officially running for president of the united states, and we are going to make our country great again," trump told the crowd at his announcement.









clinton reveled in her win, which broke bernie sanders' string of successes in the west and midwest.









the victories pushed both candidates much closer to their parties' nominations, leaving their opponents no room for error if either is to be stopped.









here are five takeaways from new york's primary:









new york truly is trump territory.









on stage at trump tower, the republican front-runner surrounded himself with some of his high-profile business friends to cap what he called "an amazing week."









and he set up the republican contest as one that would have to be taken from him -- unfairly.









"we don't have much of a race anymore, based on what i'm seeing on television," trump said. "senator cruz is just about mathematically eliminated."









the good news for trump shouldn't stop. april 26 -- the next super tuesday <u+2014> features maryland, pennsylvania and other northeastern states that should also be friendly to the front-runner.









clinton gets the resounding win she wanted









it's a sure sign that clinton is expecting to celebrate when her campaign announces she'll deliver a speech on the night of a big election.









"this one," clinton told supporters," is personal."









her commanding victory helped clinton build on her pledged delegate lead, and it denied sanders a win that could have changed the dynamics of the democratic race.









those advantages have been enough for clinton so far -- and they don't bode well for sanders in states like new jersey and california, where he'd need to crush clinton to have any chance of catching her in pledged delegates.









sanders hoped he'd win new york. in fact, as a pro-clinton group gleefully pointed out tuesday, he'd said at least 27 times that he expected to win. for two weeks he'd practically moved back to his hometown of brooklyn.









the closed primary, sanders said tuesday evening in pennsylvania as the crowd booed new york's laws, is "wrong."









"that has got to change in future elections," he said.









sanders, though, will face the same problem next tuesday, when pennsylvania, maryland, connecticut, delaware and rhode island vote. of those five states, only rhode island allows independents to vote in the democratic primary.









if sanders couldn't improve his performance with african-americans in new york, it's not clear that he ever will.









in philadelphia on tuesday night, cruz spoke before new york's polls closed <u+2014> sparing him, for the moment, the awkwardness of addressing his third-place finish and his zero delegate haul.









he didn't say anything about the contest at all, aside from noting that it's not surprising for a candidate (in this case, trump) to win his home state. he'd already campaigned in maryland on monday, and is fighting for conservatives in a district-by-district bid to deny trump delegates.









everything cruz did on tuesday night -- from the location of his event to the 8:30 p.m. et timing -- reinforced that he wasn't holding his breath for a good night in new york. aides said if he could hold trump under 90 of the state's 95 delegates, even that would count as an acceptable result.









"we're going to be deadlocked" going into the republican national convention, kasich said tuesday night in maryland. "then what delegates are going to do is do something crazy -- consider who can win in the fall."









the democratic contest has become increasingly heated and personal in recent days -- but even as sanders amps up the attacks and clinton's campaign frets over the potential impact, the party's primary voters don't seem worried.









sixty-seven percent of democratic voters surveyed in early exit polls said the campaign between sanders and clinton has energized the party, while just 29% said it has divided the party.









in the short term, the extended primary is frustrating clinton's camp. clinton communications director jennifer palmieri called sanders' campaign "destructive" to the point that sanders' continuation in the race is "not productive to democrats" and "not productive for the country."









but in the long run, democratic voters' engagement and interest in the contest could help clinton, who will need to consolidate sanders' supporters if she clinches the nomination -- and could find it easier to do that if they're not turned off by an extended intra-party battle.









among new york republicans, it's a different story.









sixty percent say the gop campaign has divided the party, compared to 36% who say it has energized it.









that could have something to do with the state's leading candidate, trump, consistently declaring the nominating process "rigged" against him.









the numbers show that republicans could have the tougher challenge in bringing the party together behind its eventual nominee.









trump's tuesday rout punctuated that reality. his victory made clear that no other republican stands a chance of catching him at the polls -- even as party members fight to deny him delegates.
new york election results: 5 takeaways
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