Preliminary voter turnout numbers are high for Tuesday’s Connecticut primary, which was won by the Republican and Democratic front-runners.
Turnout was 43 percent for Democrats and 49 percent for Republicans, much higher than turnouts for primaries in 2012 and 2008.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Republican Donald Trump won with 58 percent of the party's votes, and John Kasich came in second with 28 percent. Ted Cruz won 12 percent of the Republican votes in the state. Trump won all 28 of Connecticut’s delegates.
Hillary Clinton won 52 percent of the Democratic votes in the state, and Bernie Sanders won 47 percent. Clinton won 27 of the state’s delegates, and 24 went to Sanders.
Clinton swept the cities and ring suburbs, and Sanders won everywhere else in the state in a spirited challenge. Exit poll results show Sanders was the overwhelming favorite among young voters in Connecticut, but older voters helped Clinton win.
Quinnipiac political scientist Scott McLean said Clinton should thank voters in the state's largest cities for her victory.
"When we look back on the Connecticut Democratic primary of 2016," he said, "we are going to say that the cities -- Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven -- really tilted the balance in Hillary Clinton's favor."
McLean said Clinton's victory also comes from strong support in the Latino and African American communities.
Sacred Heart University political science professor Gary Rose said New York businessman Trump won because many Connecticut Republican voters are comfortable with him.
"Donald Trump really resonates quite well in this state," Rose said, "because I think the manner in which he's lived his life, and how he's made his money, goes a long way here in the state for a lot of Republicans."
Katherine Krajcik, co-chair of the College Republicans at Southern, said she sees why Trump has appeal in the state.
"He's not an actual politician," she said. "He can't be bought. I think he appeals to the common voter. He does make a lot of sweeping generalizations. I don't think he elaborates on his policies, but a lot of people kind of want that these days."
The race was a lot closer between Democrats Clinton and Sanders.
Southern student Corey Evans is a Sanders supporter, and was hoping for an upset. But he said he's support Clinton over Trump if they both become the nominees.
"I think Hillary is definitely symbolic of a lot of the problems that we have in the Democratic party," Evans said. "But at the same time, I think she'll do much better than Trump, and we cannot let someone like Trump thrive in this country. We can't have that."
Meanwhile, Ted Cruz got more bad news than just losing the election to Trump. About four in ten Connecticut Republicans said they wouldn't vote for Cruz in November if he's the party nominee.
Indiana is the next state to hold its presidential primary, on May 3.
Diane Orson and WSHU Public Radio contributed to this report.
