WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Liberal bastions may decide GOP race.

Conservative voters in New York and California are finally going to have their say.

Republicans in the two liberal strongholds have long been marginalized in national politics, with their primaries coming late in the process and their general election votes canceled out by Democrats.

But this year is different.

The two states collectively represent about 30 percent of the outstanding delegates in the Republican race, which means the results of their primaries will go a long way toward deciding whether Donald Trump will win the GOP nomination outright or be forced into a contested convention in July.

Both states are holding closed primaries that only allow Republicans to vote, a policy that in other states has helped Ted Cruz.

But Trump has a huge lead in both states, polls indicate, raising the possibility of decisive wins.

Stay tuned.