Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton traded victories in an epic coast-to-coast Super Tuesday struggle that failed to establish a clear front-runner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Senator John McCain seized command of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, sweeping a series of delegate-rich primaries across the US.
Super Tuesday was the biggest primary day in US history and offered an opportunity for either Clinton or Obama to establish a decisive lead. Instead, they divided the 22 states and split the number of delegates available within each state, setting the stage for what could be a long fight for the party's nomination.
Clinton, seeking to become the first female president of the US, won the biggest states, California and New York. But Obama, hoping to become the first black president, won more contests -- at least 13 -- including important states such as Georgia, Missouri and Illinois.
Neither Clinton nor Obama proclaimed victory.
"I look forward to continuing our campaign and our debate about how to leave this country better off for the next generation," Clinton told supporters in New York.
Obama was in Chicago, where he told a noisy election night rally, "Our time has come. Our movement is real. And change is coming to America."
Missouri was so close that although Obama won the vote count it was likely to be hours before it became clear whether he or his rival had captured a majority of the state's 72 delegates.
The Democratic caucuses in New Mexico remained unsettled. Clinton had a 117-vote lead when the party shut down its vote counting operation until 11am.
McCain won the Republican race in California, inflicting a crushing blow on his closest pursuer, Mitt Romney. The senator was almost halfway to the 1,191 needed for the nomination, far ahead of his rivals. He won some of the most populous states: New York, Missouri, Illinois and California.
"We've won some of the biggest states in the country," McCain told cheering supporters at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona.
An underdog for months, McCain proclaimed himself the front-runner at last, and added: "I don't really mind it one bit."
Romney won in Massachusetts, where he had served as governor, and Utah, where fellow Mormons supported his candidacy. He also won in North Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, Alaska and Montana.
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee had a surprisingly strong performance, using his support among southern Christians to win in Georgia, Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee and Arkansas.
Neither Romney nor Huckabee appeared able to overtake McCain, but both vowed to stay in the race.
Super Tuesday's votes were about winning the delegates who will select the nominees: Democrats had 1,681 delegates at stake; Republicans had 1,023 delegates.
McCain led with 613 delegates, to 269 for Romney and 190 for Huckabee. It takes 1,191 to win the nomination at this summer's convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Clinton had 845 delegates, to 765 for Obama, with 2,025 delegates required to claim the nomination in Denver at this summer's convention.
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