Super Tuesday: Clinton,Trump show strong

Super Tuesday primary election results were dominated early by Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, but Ted Cruz held strong in his home state of Texas.

Hillary Clinton is the projected winner of the Democratic presidential primaries in Texas, Arkansas, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Massachusetts.

Bernie Sanders is the projected winner of Colorado, Oklahoma, Minnesota  and his home state of Vermont.

Republican front-runner Donald Trump scored six state wins as the Republican Primary projected winner of Arkansas, Virginia, Massachusetts, Georgia, Vermont, Alabama and Tennessee, according to FOX News. 

Ted Cruz  was the projected winner of the Republican Primary in Texas as well as Oklahoma and Alaska - the last of which called at 4 a.m. Wednesday.

Marco Rubio was the projected winner of Minnesota, avoiding a shutout.

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Super Tuesday marked the busiest day of the 2016 primaries, with the biggest single-day delegate haul up for grabs. With elections being held in every region of the country, the contests were putting a spotlight on candidates' strengths and weaknesses with a broad swath of American voters.

For Clinton and Trump, the voting provided an opportunity to begin pulling away from their rivals and charting a course toward the general election. Each entered Super Tuesday having won three of four early voting contests, and more strong showings could start putting the nominations out of reach for other contenders.

 As Trump's victories piled up, he fired off "thank you" Twitter notes to the states that landed in his win column. The billionaire businessman scheduled a nighttime news conference at his swanky Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, eschewing the traditional election night rally.

Clinton was steadying herself after an unexpectedly strong challenge from Bernie Sanders. The Vermont senator did carry his home state decisively on Tuesday, and told the crowd at a raucous victory party that he was "so proud to bring Vermont values all across this country."

Early exit polls underscored Sanders' continued weaknesses with black voters, a core part of the Democratic constituency. Clinton led with African-Americans, as well as both men and women, in Georgia and Virginia, according to surveys conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks.

Sanders continued to show strength with young voters, carrying the majority of those under the age of 30.

Democrats were voting in 11 states and American Samoa, with 865 delegates up for grabs. Republicans were voting in 11 states, with 595 delegates at stake.

The contests come at a turbulent time for the GOP, given Trump's strengths in the face of opposition from many party leaders. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz launched furious verbal attacks on the billionaire businessman in recent days, but some in the party establishment fear the anti-Trump campaign has come too late.

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. Now Cruz's future hinges on a victory in his home state of Texas, the biggest prize of the day.

Rubio's goal was even more modest. He was seeking to stay competitive in the delegate count and hoping to pull off a win in his home state of Florida on March 15.

In a fundraising email to supporters, Rubio's campaign said the senator "is not going to give up this fight -- he'll do whatever it takes to stop Trump."