Jeb Bush ends presidential campaign

“I congratulate my competitors who are remaining on the island”, Bush joked after trailing in a distant fourth place to Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump celebrates winning the South Carolina primary in Spartanburg, South Carolina, February 20, 2016. “It is mean, it is nasty, vicious, it is lovely”. “We’re not going to win a general election with a candidate that refuses to detail policy”.

“After tonight this has become a three-person race”, Rubio told his supporters.

Throughout the campaign, Bush presented as an underwhelming debater who stumbled over his words and struggled to defend himself from attacks, particularly from Trump, who famously described the candidate as being “low-energy”.

Meanwhile, at the Democratic primary in Nevada, 68-year- old Clinton and her supporters breathed a sigh of relief following a narrow win over Bernie Sanders.

“Some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other”, Clinton told her cheering supporters during a victory rally in Las Vegas. “You have noticed that one of the recent national polls actually had us ahead of Hillary Clinton, in state after state her margin is narrowing”.

Trump could be on a course to run away with wins in Nevada and on Super Tuesday, particularly across the southern states that vote March 1.

She said Americans were “right to be angry”, but added they were also hungry for “real solutions”. But in a continuing sign of her vulnerability, Sanders did best with voters looking for a candidate who is caring and honest. We need more than a plan for the big banks; the middle class needs a raise and we need more jobs.

In South Carolina, Trump – a onetime reality TV star who has upended the political landscape with his take-no-prisoners style and tough talk on everything from Muslims to Mexico – showed he could compete for the long haul.

The Nevada results highlighted Clinton’s strength with black voters, a crucial Democratic electorate in the next contest in SC, as well as several Super Tuesday states.

The presidential hopeful won after beating back a stronger-than-expected challenge from Mr Sanders. He spent the week threatening one rival with a lawsuit, accusing former president George W Bush of lying and even rowing with Pope Francis on immigration.

Trump’s comments came the morning after he cruised to victory in South Carolina’s primary – giving him two wins and one second-place finish in the first three GOP contests.

In South Carolina, where he was pinning his hopes on resurging his campaign, he placed joint fourth with OH governor John Kasich.

In the desert state of Nevada, both Clinton and Sanders worked hard to reach out to African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian-Americans, who make up roughly half of the state’s population.

That’s when a quarter of the delegates needed to secure the nomination are up for grabs – and could be the last chance for establishment Republicans to rally behind a mainstream candidate.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz battled to emerge as the true anti-Trump on Sunday as the billionaire businessman took an ever-so-brief break from his trademark braggadocio to say his drive for the GOP nomination isn’t unstoppable – yet. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson vowed to keep campaigning despite lagging far behind his fellow Republicans.

For Republican Jeb Bush, it was the end of the line.