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TRUMP: Here's how many delegates I want to win to have a 'great night'

TRUMP: Here's how many delegates I want to win to have a 'great night'

Donald Trump

Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks the 2016 annual New York State Republican Gala on April 14, 2016 in New York City

Donald Trump is hoping to win more than 70 delegates in the New York primary on Tuesday, he told WABC Radio.

As talk of a contested convention this summer heats up, Trump is aiming to win as many delegates as possible through state contests in hopes of locking down the Republican nomination for president before the convention in July.

New York, where he is polling more than 30 points ahead of his rivals, and its 95 delegates constitute a prime opportunity for the mogul.

"I think if I got 75 delegates, that would be a considered a great night, maybe I can get more," Trump told WABC. "... I think anything over 70 delegates would be really a great night, and I'd like to break 50% [in the popular vote]. ... It's more of a psychological number. … If I got 50 percent, that would be a great tribute."

Trump predicted that he'd see a "great victory" in New York, his home state where he built his real-estate empire.

"It would be, especially because it's New York. It'll be very special," Trump told WABC. "... This would mean a lot to me."

Polls have shown him poised to finish well in the Empire State.

Trump is battling his remaining GOP rivals, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, to get the 1,237 delegates he needs to secure the nomination outright. Trump remains the current frontrunner for his party, but if Cruz and Kasich chip away in the delegate column, it's possible that no candidate will reach the magic number before the convention.

In that case, many delegates that would be bound to Trump on the first ballot of convention voting could vote for whomever they want on subsequent ballots.

Trump has won 756 delegates so far, according to The Associated Press. Cruz is in second with 559.

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