It’s a Super Tuesday for Clinton and Trump

Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton moved closer to winning their parties’ nominations with a series of victories in the Super Tuesday elections, the biggest day of the primary campaign.

Clinton and Trump each won at least six of 11 state races as they distanced themselves from party rivals and looked ahead to a November presidential election showdown.

U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks about the results of the Super Tuesday primaries at a campaign rally in Miami, Florida March 1, 2016.

Ted Cruz, a firebrand conservative senator, won his home state of Texas and Oklahoma as he sought to emerge as Trump’s main rival. Clinton’s only opponent, Bernie Sanders, also won Oklahoma, as well as his home state of Vermont.

Cruz desperately needed the Texas win in order to stay in the race, and was likely to keep campaigning as the only Republican who has been able to defeat Trump in any primary contest.

Still, Trump’s wins in the South were a blow to Cruz, who once saw the region as his opportunity to stake a claim to the nomination. Instead, he’s watched Trump, a brash New York real estate mogul, display surprising strength with the region’s evangelical Christians and social conservatives.

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a Super Tuesday campaign rally in Louisville, Kentucky March 1, 2016.

For Marco Rubio, who is also seeking to emerge as the main alternative to Trump, the night was disappointing. While Republican officeholders have rallied around him in recent days, his first state victory remained elusive as results rolled in. His long-shot hopes now rest with his home state, Florida, which votes on March 15, but polls show him trailing Trump there.

Trump won in Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Georgia on Super Tuesday.

Clinton, the former secretary of state and senator, won in Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia. The wins reflected her strength in the South, where black voters are an important part of the Democratic base and overwhelmingly support her.

Voting was continuing in other contests or the races were too close to call.