Mitt Romney wins New York primary

by Jonathan Easley - 04/25/12 1:37 AM ET

Mitt Romney landed his biggest delegate prize to date with his primary victory in New York on Tuesday.

Romney swept the five Northeastern contests, pushing him closer to the 1,144 delegates he needs to clinch the Republican nomination.

{mosads}His victories Tuesday night also increase the pressure on Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul to withdraw from the race, following the example of Rick Santorum, who suspended his campaign earlier this month.

Throughout the primary season Romney has excelled in contests in the Northeastern states, which are close to where he governed in Massachusetts. The last polls in New York, from early April, when Santorum was still in the race, showed Romney taking more than 50 percent and leading his closest challenger by more than 30 points.

With the primary complete, it’s unlikely Romney will spend much time campaigning in New York. Ronald Reagan was the last Republican candidate to win the Empire State back in 1984, and President Obama leads Romney by 23 percent in a CNN-ORC poll released earlier this month.