Donald Trump made Indiana a pivotal part of his attempt to round up the votes to get him the necessary 1237 delegates for the Republican nomination, and in the May 3rd primary vote, his efforts paid off. Trump’s decisive victory on Tuesday prompted both Ted Cruz and John Kasich to suspend their campaigns, leaving the billionaire businessman as the presumed Republican candidate for president.

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s big win, Trump held multiple rallies in Indiana and also had a Fox News Town Hall on April 26th. Trump’s rallies attracted thousands of Hoosiers and several Brebeuf Students. True to form, the rallies brought in both supporters and protesters.

Trump supporter and Brebeuf Junior Andrew Macy attended the April 20th rally at the State Fair Grounds.  He entered the rally through “crowds of protestors outside the fairgrounds” to join a crowd of several thousand chanting pro-Trump and anti-Hillary Clinton slogans. According to Macy, Trump claimed he “would get steel back into Indiana… creating more jobs that have been lost to other nations.” Macy said that he believes Trump will help the country because he “makes all of his decisions in the best interest of the American economy.”

Sophomore Arinze Osili also attended the April 20th rally and described the event as “lively and energetic.”  Osili said that the rally was calmer than he expected and that he saw only about 20 protesters.  He also said that the crowd attending the rally was mostly older white people, but he did see several Brebeuf students there. Osili believes that “Donald Trump as President would hurt me and the country as a whole because he doesn’t have any experience with leading a country, so he won’t know what he is doing.”

In yesterday’s primary vote, Trump captured 53.3% of the vote while Cruz and Kasich rounded up the 36.7% and 7.5% remaining voters.  Shortly after the race was called for Trump, Cruz announced that he was suspending his campaign.  The next day, on May 4th John Kasich also announced that he too was ending his campaign.

The Stop Trump movement had hoped to turn Indiana into a Wisconsin-like victory for Ted Cruz as the Hoosier primary was a make-or-break state for both Trump and Cruz.  In Wisconsin, waves of attack ads from pro-Cruz Super Pacs and conservative media, along with an endorsement of Cruz by Governor Scott Walker, helped secure victory for Cruz. Indiana Governor Mike Pence announced that he would be voting for Cruz, but instead of endorsing the candidate he told voters to vote for whomever they thought would do the best job as President.

With Trump’s victory in Indiana, he has essentially secured the Republican nomination.  After Trump’s victory, Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus tweeted, calling Trump “the presumptive GOP nominee” and asking for unity as the Republicans turn their attention to November. The Anti-Trump movement had hoped to deny Trump the necessary delegates in Indiana to force a contested Republican Convention in Cleveland where an alternative candidate could be named.

On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders’ Indiana victory over Hillary Clinton did little to advance his bid for the nomination. With a sizeable lead in the number of delegates needed to win the nomination, Clinton’s triumph in the race to represent the Democrats in the general election is all but assured.  Secretary Clinton won Indiana in the 2008 primary election over Barack Obama, and President Obama did capture the state in the general election that year.