Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton took major steps towards claiming their parties' presidential nominations with sweeping wins on Super Tuesday, the biggest day in the primary campaign.
Clinton and Trump each won seven states, as the front runners padded their leads in the all-important delegate counts that determine the parties' nominees.
Though state primaries and caucuses will continue for months, rivals will be hard-pressed to catch up with the front runners.
That increases the likelihood of a Trump-Clinton showdown in the November election, offering voters what would likely be the starkest contrast in presidential candidates they have seen in their lifetimes.
It would pit Clinton, the politically cautious, detailed-oriented former secretary of state and senator, against Trump, the trash-talking political outsider who has generated outrage with his derogatory comments about Muslims, Mexicans and women, among others, yet has won over many Americans angry at Washington and anxious about terrorism, immigration and the economy.
Clinton turned away from rival Bernie Sanders and set her sights on Trump as she addressed supporters during a victory rally in Miami.
"It's clear tonight that the stakes in this election have never been higher and the rhetoric we're hearing on the other side has never been lower," said Clinton, who is trying to become America's first female president.
Trump, too, had his eye on a match-up with Clinton, casting her as part of a political establishment that has failed Americans.
"She's been there for so long," Trump told a news conference at his swanky Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. "If she hasn't straightened it out by now, she's not going to straighten it out in the next four years."
Trump's dominance has rattled Republican leaders, who fear the billionaire real estate mogul and former reality TV star is unelectable against Clinton in November.
But Tuesday's results did little to clarify which of two senators - Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio - might emerge as Trump's main Republican rival, with both vowing to fight on despite weak performances.
Cruz, a firebrand conservative senator, won the biggest prize, his home state of Texas, and neighbouring Oklahoma, as well as Alaska, giving him four wins overall, including the lead-off Iowa caucuses. But Cruz failed elsewhere in the South, which was considered prime territory for him, watching as Trump displayed surprising strength with evangelical Christians and social conservatives.
Still, Cruz called on Rubio and other candidates to step aside.
"I ask you to prayerfully consider our coming together, united," Cruz said.
Rubio emerged on Tuesday with his first victory, in the Minnesota caucuses, but did not live up to the wider hopes of the numerous Republican office holders who have promoted him as the party's best alternative to Trump.
His hopes are now on the March 15 primary in his home state of Florida, where, unlike Tuesday's contests, the winner will claim all the delegates.
In the Democratic race, Clinton has faced a tougher-than-expected challenge from Bernie Sanders, a Vermont senator and self-described democratic socialist who has energised supporters with his calls for a "political revolution" and denunciations of America's wealth gap. But Sanders has struggled to expand his base beyond young people and liberals.
Sanders won four states on Tuesday - Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma and his home state of Vermont. But Clinton won the biggest states and by wide margins, giving her a much larger share of delegates.
Share
