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New York billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump scored major victories on Super Tuesday, winning at least 7 of 11 Republican primaries.
Trump was projected the winner of Republican races in Arkansas, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Vermont and Tennessee while Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, two of his major rivals, won three states in total.
The result of the Alaska caucus, with only 28 delegates at stake, is yet to come.
Trump's big wins solidified his status as the GOP front-runner, and left his rivals with increasingly long odds of overtaking him in delegates.
Speaking at a rally in Florida, Trump called himself a "unifier" despite the fact that his blunt and sometimes even incendiary remarks about immigration had so far fractured the Republican party and alienated Latino voters.
"Our party is expanding, and all you have to do is take a look at the primary states where I've won," said Trump. "I think we're going to be more inclusive, more unified and a much bigger party, and I think we're going to win in November."
Meanwhile, Trump's strong showing in five of the six southern states on Super Tuesday delivered a strong blow to Cruz, who had long expected the South to be his firewall.
However, Cruz on Tuesday night looked to drive Rubio out of the race while speaking at a rally in Texas, where he won handily over Trump.
"Tomorrow morning we have a choice," said Cruz. "So long as the field remains divided, Donald Trump's path to the nomination remains more likely, and that would be a disaster for Republicans, conservatives, and for nation."
After former Florida Governor Jeb Bush bowed out of the race after the South Carolina primary, Rubio had been stacking up endorsements overwhelmingly from Republican governors and lawmakers. However, he's only won one primary so far.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton won by a landslide all the six states that make up her so-called southern "firewall" on Super Tuesday, dealing a strong blow to her Democratic rival Bernie Sanders.
Clinton also won in Massachusetts, one of Sanders' northern strongholds.
As many as 12 U.S. states and American Samoa took part in Super Tuesday contests this year, as Clinton and Trump, both of whom won three of the four early-voting contests in February, looked poised to cruise to their respective party nominations after their sweeping victories.
