Clinton, Trump claim first Super Tuesday wins in 4 states

Hillary Clinton achieved key victories in Georgia and Virginia to extend her lead over Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, who won his home state of Vermont but risks a major setback if he has a poor showing in the rest of the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses.

But Ted Cruz, a USA senator from Texas, has won his home state and neighbouring Oklahoma, stopping Trump’s winning streak and giving hope to Republicans looking for a way to stop the controversial billionaire’s potential rise to the nomination.

Clinton also picked up wins in Texas, Arkansas and Massachusetts, nabbing her first victory in New England, while Trump carried GOP contests in Arkansas, Massachusetts and Vermont.

Rubio has shown promise in the four February contests by coming in second behind Trump in Nevada and SC, and a strong third in Iowa, where Trump came in second and Cruz won. Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich was in Jackson, Miss.; Ben Carson is in Baltimore, Donald Trump is in West Palm Beach, Fla; and Marco Rubio is not too far away in his hometown of Miami.

Texas was the biggest prize on the Super Tuesday map, offering 222 Democratic delegates and 155 Republican delegates.

Rubio’s best bet is probably Virginia, where the GOP establishment makes up much of the northern portion of the state. Meanwhile, Kasich said he will remain in the race until his home state casts its vote on March 15.

Clinton, the former secretary of state, was the projected victor in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the vital battleground state of Virginia, auguring well for her campaign as millions of votes are counted in a dozen states across the country. Clinton once again demonstrated her pull with black voters, as she did in overwhelming fashion in SC over the weekend.

The Super Tuesday contests are a delegate bonanza for front-runners and a test of survival for others as voters went to the polls across the nation, including in the Deep South, in Colorado and Texas, in ice-bound Alaska and Minnesota.

Sanders won his home state of Vermont as well as Oklahoma and pledged to stay in the race.

Bernie Sanders is projected to take Vermont and Oklahoma.

Still, some in the Republican party say they refuse to support Trump, even if he does win the nomination, something his rivals hope to capitalize on. Ted Cruz, is scrambling to block Trump’s path to the nomination.

The overall results of the primaries process may not be representative of the USA electorate as a whole.

Her remarks come following a recent Associated Press survey of GOP senators and governors across the country that showed just under half of respondents would not commit to backing Trump if he’s the nominee.

“Let’s see what voters decide in all these states that are lined up today and then we’ll take stock after it’s over”, she told reporters.

Tyler Murphy, a 26-year-old Boston resident who works as a project manager for a construction company, said he voted for Trump.

Still, Sanders has a goal of ending Super Tuesday with as many proportionally-awarded delegates as possible, he said.

Vermont – Sanders seals a win for Democrats.

Clinton earned her latest win in the string of contests known as Super Tuesday.

His success will sow yet more terror in the Republican hierarchy, which fears the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan could face electoral annihilation in November’s general election if he is the nominee. Cruz is likewise insisting that Rubio quit, asking him “to prayerfully come together” to defeat Trump. And Trump ran into trouble when he failed to disavow the KKK and white supremacist David Duke to CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Clinton has won the Democratic presidential primary in Arkansas, where she once served as the state’s first lady.

“He has to get out”, Trump told Fox News earlier in the day.