As home to America’s largest city, the state of New York is widely acknowledged as a critical state to win in the race for presidential candidacy. Triumph in America’s hub of business and trade can make or break a candidate’s bid for their party’s nomination. Each party’s results provide new perspectives about the opinions that the public share about each nominee.

The shockwaves of this momentous state election process could possibly shape the political landscape for the duration of the presidential election. Patterns have begun to emerge that reveal the future for both the Republican and Democratic parties.

The Republican candidate who took home New York came as no surprise. Donald Trump had long been projected winning New York, and his victory raised few eyebrows. As a prominent businessman in the middle of a state known for its metropolis, Trump held an almost unfair home court advantage to start with just based on occupation. The Trump Tower in New York stands as a reminder of the Republican frontrunner’s powerful presence throughout the state.

For once, however, Donald Trump abandoned his previous underhand and inappropriate tactics, spurring on his victory. He never smeared his opponent’s names as he had in the past, adopting tactful strategy over his previous bombastic statements. This new Donald Trump shows promise to continue winning important states, assisted by his indisputable name recognition and unprecedented media coverage. In his victory in New York, Trump gained the votes of 89 delegates, increasing his already impressive lead over the closest competition, Senator Ted Cruz.

Accustomed to his comfortable second place position, New York came as a rude wake-up call to Cruz’s campaign. Cruz took home no delegates in this crucial state, losing to John Kasich, who gained four delegates. This political upset is the only real surprise of the Republican side of this primary. Most states are expected to follow the same pattern as the candidate’s positions: Donald Trump emphatically in first, Ted Cruz trailing in second place, and John Kasich pitifully far behind in third.

Therefore, Kasich triumphing over his competition in New York shows weakness in Cruz’s appeal to the people, beginning a trend the Kasich supporters hope to continue onwards through the rest of the primary election process. For those that hope to avoid four years with President Trump, chipping away candidates from Trump’s victories as Kasich did in this instance is important progress toward a contested Republican convention. The contested convention is the only probable alternative to nominating Trump to run against the chosen Democratic candidate.

As home to America’s largest city, the state of New York is widely acknowledged as a critical state to win in the race for presidential candidacy. Triumph in America’s hub of business and trade can make or break a candidate’s bid for their party’s nomination. — Andrew Moore

On the Democratic side of the ballot, the race turned out quite a bit closer than on the Republican side. Frontrunner Hillary Clinton came home with the win, polling at 58% and gaining 139 delegates. Her competition wasn’t far behind, with Senator Bernie Sanders polling at 42% and gaining 108 delegates. This split result doesn’t present a clear victory for either candidate, but still unearths some interesting voting trends.

Hillary was clearly expected to win this state, and although she did pull it off, her victory was only won by a small margin. Her campaign desires to pull ahead of Bernie Sanders and finally emerge as the Democratic victors, and closely contested primaries such as New York don’t help them all that much. The closeness of this election reflects the split opinions from coast to coast among members of the Democratic party.

Splitting New York barely construes a success for Sanders’ campaign, but in context doesn’t seem too upsetting for fans of the self- proclaimed socialist candidate. In the past month, Sanders has been flush with success, winning far more states than Clinton. Sweeping through states such as Washington, Idaho, Hawaii and Alaska placed Sanders in a positive position heading into New York. Although a win would have placed him in a better position, gaining any points at all keeps him in close competition with Hillary.

The controversial underdog campaign of Senator Sanders needs to maintain some level of momentum, however, and this loss brings his previous progress to a halt. If Hillary can seize the moment of victory and sweep through the next few states, her campaign can greatly benefit from New York’s results. Whoever moves onward from the almost neutral result with the most aplomb can bolster their campaign’s cause greatly.

The New York Primary brings interesting trends that will likely shape the rest of the election year. As Donald Trump builds momentum state after state, his accumulation of delegates seems unstoppable. Trump’s nomination seems almost a foregone conclusion, and Republicans should get used to the idea of being represented by the enthusiastic businessman. The Democrats, on the other hand, haven’t been presented with a clear winner. The split decision on New York mirrors the split nature of the political landscape on the issues that Clinton and Sanders represent. The events that follow this important primary will determine the likely winner of their nomination.

Information for this article from: New York Times and CNN Politics.

This author can be reached via Twitter: @Andrew_Mooooore and via email: Andrew Moore.