(From Reuters)
Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton rolled up a series of big primary wins on Tuesday, as the two presidential front-runners looked to take command of their party nominating battles on the 2016 campaign’s biggest night of voting.
But Republican Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, won his home state and neighboring Oklahoma, bolstering his argument he had the best chance to stop the controversial Trump. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, the favorite of the Republican establishment, had yet to register a win. (Race to the White House, see graphic here)
U.S. networks projected Trump won five states and Clinton won six states on Super Tuesday, when 12 states were voting. Trump won Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Virginia, while Clinton won Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Opinion polls heading into the voting had shown Trump leading in most of the 12 states up for grabs, raising the possibility of a big night that would intensify worries among Republican leaders who fear the billionaire could inflict long-term damage on the party.
Exit polls and early results showed Arkansas and Vermont were too close to call for Republicans, networks said. For Democrats, Massachusetts was too close to call.
Clinton, the former secretary of state, hoped to win enough states to take a big step toward wrapping up her nomination fight with rival Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist U.S. senator from Vermont. Read more