Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump have each
won the most states on the biggest day of the race for the US presidential nominations.
The count is still on but Mr Trump has so far won seven states, compared with only two taken by his closest rival, Ted Cruz, and one by Marco Rubio.
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.
It is a pivotal day because it allocates nearly a quarter of the 2,472 Republican delegates and some 20% of all delegates for the Democrats.
On 8 November, America is due to elect a successor to Barack Obama, a Democratic president standing down after two terms in office which have seen the Republicans take control of both houses of Congress.
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.
In a victory speech, Mrs Clinton appeared to already be looking towards a potential presidential race against Mr Trump, saying: "The stakes in this election have never been higher and the rhetoric we're hearing on the other side has never been lower."
Donald Trump insisted that he was a "unifier" who could put internal fighting in the Republican party behind him.
"Once we get all this finished, I'm going after one person - Hillary Clinton," he told reporters in Florida, where he has been campaigning ahead of the state's vote later this month.
The billionaire insisted he had "expanded the Republican party", referring to higher turnout from a broad demographic in states that have already voted.
Super Tuesday states won so far:
- Donald Trump (Republican): Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Vermont
- Ted Cruz (Republican): Texas, Oklahoma
- Marco Rubio (Republican): Minnesota
- Hillary Clinton (Democrat): Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Texas, Massachusetts
- Bernie Sanders (Democrat): Vermont, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Colorado
Texas Senator Ted Cruz desperately needed to win in his home state to have any chance of staying in the race.
Pointing to his three primary wins against Mr Trump to date in the season, he told Republicans: "I ask you to prayerfully consider our coming together, united."
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 has faced heavy criticism this week over his failure to disavow David Duke, a leader of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan, who endorsed him.
The front-runner later said he had on several occasions in the past disavowed Mr Duke.
Mrs Clinton had already secured three wins in the first four early-voting states, polling significantly among blocs of black voters.
But Bernie Sanders, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, has put up an unexpectedly strong challenge against her since his sweeping victory in New Hampshire last month.
This was a strikingly different Donald Trump who met reporters on Tuesday night. His tone was conciliatory. He was quietly spoken. He said he would be a unifier - of the Republican Party, of the nation. He didn't crow and he didn't claim to be the nominee, but he clearly thinks the primary race is effectively over.
This was a man not looking to the next primary, the next bit of slog along that long and exhausting road. This was a man with an eye on the much bigger fight in November, and his presumptive opponent Hillary Clinton.
He graciously congratulated Ted Cruz over his wins in Texas and Oklahoma. No mention last night of him being the biggest liar he's ever met. And no demeaning of Marco Rubio either. Were it not for the unmistakable blond hair and the family members at his side, you might have been forgiven for thinking an imposter had entered the room.
It was Donald 2.0 that we had with us. The trouble, though, when you upload a new operating system (OS) is there are inevitable bugs and glitches. And the new OS takes a bit of getting used to.
And there will be many who say what brought me to the product was the original software. So can and will the new magnanimous Donald be able to keep up this new modus operandi, and will his army of fans like what they see?
Addressing cheering supporters at his victory speech in Vermont, Mr Sanders aimed a jibe at the Republican front-runner saying: "We are not going to let the Donald Trumps of the world divide us."
The proportion of votes won equates to the number of delegates who will then go on to the Democratic and Republican parties' national conventions in July to officially choose the nominees for the presidency.
Source - BBC
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