(BBC) – Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump have each won the most States on the biggest day of the race for the U.S. presidential nominations.
Mr Trump won seven States while his closest rival, Ted Cruz, took three. The third-placed Republican, Marco Rubio, came in with one.
Speaking in his home state of Texas, Mr Cruz urged other Republicans to quit the race and join him against Mr Trump. Democrat Bernie Sanders had wins in four states.
Super Tuesday saw 11 states voting, from Massachusetts in the east to Alaska in the north-west. A 12th state, Colorado, held a caucus – won by Mr Sanders – but does not actually select its delegates until April.
Tuesday allocates nearly a quarter of Republican delegates, and about a fifth of Democratic delegates, who will elect their respective presidential candidates at party conventions in July. No candidate has yet won enough delegates to secure their party’s nomination.
FAVOURITES
Mrs Clinton, a former Secretary of State, and Mr Trump, a property tycoon, entered Super Tuesday as favourites to win the vast majority of states for their respective parties.
The Democratic front-runner won in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Texas and Massachusetts, polling well among blocs of black voters.
Delivering her victory speech from Miami, having moved her campaign to Florida for the primary there on 15 March, in common with other candidates, she appeared to already be looking towards a potential presidential race against Mr Trump.
“The stakes in this election have never been higher and the rhetoric we’re hearing on the other side has never been lower,” she said.
Donald Trump won the Republican primaries in Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas and Vermont.
The billionaire insisted he had “expanded the Republican party”, referring to higher turnout from a broad demographic in states that have already voted.
He described himself as a “unifier” who could put internal fighting in the Republican party behind him and told reporters in Florida: “Once we get all this finished, I’m going after one person – Hillary Clinton.”
Mr Trump, a former reality TV star known for his controversial policies on immigration, has stunned the Republican establishment to become the party’s front-runner.
He faced heavy criticism this week over his failure to disavow David Duke, a leader of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan, who endorsed him. He later said he had on several occasions in the past disavowed Mr Duke.
Victory in Alaska handed Texas Senator Ted Cruz his third state of the night, after his home state and Oklahoma.
