NBC News: Romney Wins CT, Polls Closed in NY

New York has 95 delegates, the most of any of the five East Coast states holding primaries Tuesday

UPDATE: NBC News Projects Romney Wins NY, Sweeping Tuesday Races

New York is all that stands between Mitt Romney and a convincing sweep of five primaries Tuesday night.

NBC News projects that Romney will win primaries in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Rhode Island. Polls closed in New York at 9 p.m., but that race has not been called.

If Romney does win New York, as expected, he will substantially boost his delegate tally after New York's presidential primary Tuesday.

New York has 95 delegates, the most of any of the five East Coast states holding primaries Tuesday. Romney is looking to add to his wide lead over Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul in the nomination race for the 1,144 delegates. Romney's closest competitor, Rick Santorum, has stopped campaigning.

Polls have shown Romney with a commanding lead in New York, which doles out its delegates proportionately.

While New York Republicans had once hoped to play a major role in the primary race, those hopes faded as Romney solidified his front-runner status and began focusing more on the general election against President Barack Obama.

Romney did not even make a public campaign stop in this heavily Democratic state in the run-up to the primary. Gingrich spoke to a rally in Buffalo last week, and Paul appeared at Cornell University.

A candidate who wins more than half the vote Tuesday would get the state's 34 at-large Republican delegates. If no candidate gets a majority vote, they're doled out proportionately. Also in play are two delegates from each of New York's current 29 congressional districts, which will go to the winner of the districts.

In addition, New York Republican Chairman Ed Cox and two other New York members of the Republican National Committee are "super delegates" who are free to commit to any candidate. Cox has already endorsed Romney.

New York state has 2.8 million registered Republicans.

Connecticut has 28 Republican delegates, and 25 will be selected Tuesday. A candidate who wins more than half the vote will automatically win 10 delegates.

The remaining 15 will be divided among the state's five congressional districts and awarded to whoever wins the plurality in each district.

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