 "Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reacts to supporters as she arrives to address supporters at her Super Tuesday election night rally in Miami. Photo: PTI")
With US elections entering a critical phase, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton surged ahead in the presidential race today after posting big wins in 'Super Tuesday' primaries as an epic face off between them seemed likely after the multi-state vote.
Coming within striking distance of becoming the Republican nominee, Trump, who has faced intense attack from other contenders for his radical views, notched up victories in seven states -- Alabama, Arkansas Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia.
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68-year-old Clinton, who is the Democratic Party front-runner and is aspiring to be America's first woman president, also clinched seven states in the 'Super Tuesday' primaries -- Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
However, both Clinton and Trump were denied a clean sweep which many poll pundits had predicted.
On the Republican side, Ted Cruz claimed Super Tuesday's biggest prize -- Texas -- along with Oklahoma and Marco Rubio landed his first win of the 2016 campaign in Minnesota while on the Democrat side Clinton's main rival Bernie Sanders registered victories in four states.
Sanders captured Colorado, Oklahoma, Minnesota and his home state of Vermont.
Trump, 69, emerged from the contests closer than ever to the nomination and was acting more and more like a general election candidate eager to take on Clinton.
"Once we get all of this finished, I'm going to go after one person, and that's Hillary Clinton," he said in Florida. "I think that's frankly going to be an easy race."
Speaking in Miami after notching several wins, Clinton also seemed to look beyond Sanders -- taking implicit shots at Trump's 'Make America Great Again' campaign slogan.
"America never stopped being great. We have to make America whole," Clinton said.
Trump, on the other hand, asserted that he is "unifier" in the party and is bringing a cross-section of the society to the Republican Party.
"I am a unifier. I would love to see the Republican party and everybody get together and unify. And there is no one who is going to beat us," Trump said.
"I think we're going to be more inclusive...More unified, and I think we're going to be a much bigger party. (The GOP) has become more dynamic. It's become more diverse. We're taking from the Democrats. I mean, look at South Carolina," he said.
In terms of delegates, Clinton had won 873 while Sanders had secured 296. For Democrats, 1,839 delegates are needed to clinch the nomination.
On the Republican side, 1,237 delegates were needed to clinch a nomination. Trump has secured 251 delegates while Cruz has 114.
