First Read: Map and math about to get tougher for Cruz, Sanders

Apr. 6, 2016, 9:17 AM EDT

By Chuck Todd , Carrie Dann and Mark Murray

First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day’s most important political stories and why they matter.

After their wins, the map and the math get tougher for Cruz, Sanders

It was mission accomplished for both Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders in Wisconsin last night. Cruz won almost all of Wisconsin’s delegates (with six to still be decided), and Sanders got the double-digit victory his campaign was hoping for (14 points). But the going now gets tougher for the two men — regarding both the map and the math, especially as the primary contests move to delegate-rich New York and the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic later this month. The problem for Cruz and the “Stop Trump” effort: It’s possible that Trump could win close to or all of New York’s 95 delegates on April 19, because it’s winner-take-all if a candidate gets more than 50% of the statewide and congressional-district vote. And guess what: Trump is currently polling above 50% in the state. So for Trump, New York could more than make up for the delegates that Cruz netted last night. Here is the current delegate math:

Trump holds a 239-delegate lead over Cruz (it was 275 going into last night)