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Indiana primary 2016 results: Donald Trump's win all but ends Ted Cruz's last hope

Libby Nelson is Vox's policy editor, leading coverage of how government action and inaction shape American life. Libby has more than a decade of policy journalism experience, including at Inside Higher Ed and Politico. She joined Vox in 2014.

Donald Trump won the Indiana Republican primary on Tuesday night, considered a must-win for his leading rival, Senator Ted Cruz. And in the wake of Trump's victory, Cruz dropped out of the race, leaving Trump the presumptive Republican nominee this fall.

Bernie Sanders won the Democratic primary, despite polls that had shown him slightly behind Hillary Clinton. But his margin of victory isn't likely to be wide enough to overcome Clinton's commanding lead among Democratic delegates.

The Indiana primary results were decisive

Despite Trump's dominance in the race, it seemed possible until very recently that he wouldn't have won a majority of the Republican delegates before the Republican National Convention begins in Cleveland in July — and that the convention would therefore be contested.

That's no longer the case. As unimaginable as this might have seemed in July, Trump is the nominee, and the Republican Party is preparing to line up behind him.