PALM BEACH, Fla. — Donald Trump easily won Florida on Tuesday but lost Ohio to John Kasich, setting up the prospect of a long, drawn-out, delegate-by-delegate struggle for the Republican presidential nomination.
Trump claimed all 99 of Florida's convention delegates and knocked Marco Rubio out of the Republican race.
Meanwhile, news networks said races were too close to call in North Carolina, Missouri and Illinois, where Trump was locked in close contests with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
"Word is that, despite a record amount spent on negative and phony ads, I had a massive victory in Florida. Numbers out soon!" Trump tweeted in declaring victory in the Sunshine State ahead of network projections.
Rubio, who appeared headed to a blow-out loss in his home state, said he would exit the race, telling supporters in Miami that "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 who had predicted that the winner of the Florida primary 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.
At one point during the speech, a Trump supporter heckled Rubio by repeatedly shouting the businessman's name.
Kasich and Rubio both faced must-win primaries in their home states of Ohio and Florida, while Cruz — currently in second place to Trump in the Republican delegate hunt -- looked for upset wins in the other states.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump, who leads the field in delegates but lacks the necessary majority, predicted he would sweep the slate of contests because of the new blue-collar voters he has attracted into the Republican Party.
"It's the biggest story in politics worldwide," Trump said on NBC's Today show. "We brought millions of people in, and they're voting in the primaries."
Some polls show Kasich leading Trump in Ohio, however. After voting on Tuesday, the Buckeye State governor told reporters, "we're going to win — I feel terrific." Kasich has not won any Republican contests to date.
Kasich, who has been increasingly critical of Trump over "deeply disturbing" things the front-runner has said and done, also ruled out any kind of alliance with the New York businessman, such as serving as his running mate.
"There’s no way I would team up with Donald Trump," Kasich said on Fox & Friends. "No way. Forget it. I’m going to be the nominee because we’re going to win Ohio."
Kasich indicated that he will take a more aggressive approach 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."
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 — acting so innocent and like such a nice guy. Remember him in second debate, until I put him down."
Despite polls pointing to a Trump victory, Rubio expressed confidence about the ultimate outcome in Florida earlier in the day, telling Fox News that "I think a lot of people are going to be embarrassed" when the returns roll in.
Rubio and Kasich said Trump lacks 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.
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.
Florida and Ohio are also important for another reason: Primary winners get all the delegates, 99 in Florida and 66 in Ohio.
Trump also picked up an early win on Tuesday in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean. The real estate mogul won 73% in island Republican caucuses and took all nine delegates.
It takes 1,237 delegates — 50% of the delegates, plus one — to clinch the GOP nomination.
Cruz, who is in second place in delegates, is hoping for strong finishes in Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina. Arguing that only he or Trump can reach the 1,237-delegate mark ahead of the convention, Cruz has said that Rubio and Kasich should drop out and get behind him as part of an anti-Trump coalition.
All three of Trump's opponents pledged to wrap up as many delegates as possible between now and the mid-July convention, if only to block a Trump victory on the first ballot.
Rubio told reporters he plans to campaign for next week's caucuses in Utah regardless of what happens in Florida.
"This is a very unusual political year," Rubio told Fox. "No one can tell you how this winds up."
