(CN) - Donald Trump swept all five Northeastern states holding primaries Tuesday, continuing to stockpile delegates as his rivals and the GOP establishment try in vain to stymie his ascent to the nomination.
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, also had a good night, winning in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
However, Sen. Bernie Sanders refused to be made a political footnote Tuesday. He won in Rhode Island and lost Connecticut by only the narrowest of margins.
Democrats are competing for 384 delegates in Tuesday's contests, while Republicans have 172 up for grabs. That means neither Trump or Clinton can wrap up their contests tonight.
It is still unclear, however, how much Tuesday night's results will buoy the Sanders campaign.
In recent days, after being humbled in last week's New York State Primary, the Vermont senator has alternated between vowing to fight on to the Democratic convention and striking a more conciliatory tone even going so far as to tell a television interviewer that he will support the party's nominee, whoever it is.
On ABC's "Good Morning America" Sanders admitted his campaign would be in a tough spot on Tuesday since the states in play don't allow independents to participate in the primaries.
Later on Tuesday, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid told reporters in Washington that he doesn't believe Sanders has a realistic path to securing the party's presidential nomination.
Responding to questions at his weekly news conference Reid stopped short of suggesting Sanders should drop out of the race, but when asked if he though Sanders has any chance of being the next president, he answered, "No, I do not."
Sanders, Reid said, "has run a campaign that I think we've all recognized has been unique and powerful ... Bernie is going to do what he feels is appropriate and I have every confidence that Bernie, his No. 1 issue is not him, it's the country."
For her part, Clinton has already begun looking past Sanders, ratcheting up her attacks on Trump, whom she's already describing as a detached moneybags.
"If you want to be president of the United States you've got to get familiar with it," she said this past weekend.
"You can't just fly in on a big jet, go make a big speech and insult everybody you can think of," Clinton said.
All five of the states holding primaries Tuesday Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island reported heavy voter turnouts.
In Connecticut, large numbers of voters turned out despite occasional thunderstorms and the entire state being under a severe weather watch into the evening.
Chris Haynes, assistant professor of political science at the University of New Haven, said early Tuesday that turnout will matter on the Democratic side where Sanders appeared to be gaining in the polls on former Secretary of State Clinton.
"Who gets their voters to the polls on a rainy day in Connecticut?" Haynes said. "Right now, those are Bernie voters."
Haynes' prediction did not hold. But in the end, it may not matter that much, since 55 of Connecticut's 71 delegates are distributed proportionally, and Sanders' showing means she'll still receive a large number of them.
"Voting was pleasant. It was easy. Not difficult by any means. Although it would have been more difficult if my teacher had not told me where to go and given me a ride," said Joseph, a 22-year-old voter in Providence.
Philip Budwin, a volunteer stationed outside the polling place, said he has been working with the 1st Ward for six years, going door-to-door handing out Democratic "get out the vote" leaflets before elections, and being on hand on election day to make sure everything is "[done] by the book" and that voters are not influenced by outside groups.
