The ongoing Democratic and Republican primaries appear to be narrowing down the nominees for 2016 presidential elections, though the battle is not quite over yet.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton registered major victories in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Illinois on Super Tuesday II, but tied with Bernie Sanders in Missouri. Eighteen states have already been won by Clinton and nine by Bernie Sanders.
Clinton hopes to win the nominations by maintaining a delegate lead of roughly 300 towards the end.
"We are moving closer to securing the Democratic Party nomination and winning this election in November. And our supporters across the country, our campaign has won more votes than any other candidate, Democrat or Republican," she told cheering supporters.
Clinton also complimented Sanders for being a tough contender in the primaries. "I want to congratulate Senator Sanders for the vigorous campaign he's waging," she said.
On the Republican side, Trump is maintaining a steady lead ahead of the other party hopefuls for the nomination, having won in 19 states. His closest competitor Senator Ted Cruz gained in only 7 of the caucuses, Marco Rubio in three states, and John Kasich in one - Ohio, where he is the sitting governor.
Rubio ceded the fight for party presidential nomination to Trump, after losing to the celebrity billionaire in his home state Florida.
"After tonight it is clear that while we are on the right side, we will not be on the winning side," Rubio told his supporters in Miami after ending his campaign. "I ask the American people -- do not give into the fear, do not give into the frustration. The politics of resentment against other people will not just leave us a fractured party -- they're going to leave us a fractured nation," he said.
Trump has acquired 621 delegates so far, followed by Cruz who has 395 delegates. Rubio and Kasich have less than 200 as yet. On the Democratic arena, Clinton has already rallied support of 1,094 delegates, while Sanders is backed by 774 delegates.
In case Trump fails to win a majority of delegates over to his side, he will have to face a brokered or an open convention, where delegates are free to choose any one of the participating primary candidates, or even a lawmaker who was originally not in the race.
The last time delegates resorted to an open convention was in 1984 to resolve skewed Democratic primaries for Vice President Walter Mondale. However, Republicans took this recourse last only in 1976 for President Gerald Ford.
After Trump's major loss in Ohio, where none of the 66 delegates voted for him, he picked up lost ground in the elections through victories in other major states, including in Florida, North Carolina, and Illinois.
Speaking about Trump at her victory speech after Super Tuesday II, Clinton said, "Our commander in chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass it, engage our allies, not alienate them, defeat our adversaries not embolden them... We should be breaking down barriers, not building walls. We're not going to succeed by dividing this country between us and them. You know, to be great, we can't be small. We can't lose what made America great in the first place."
On the Republican side, Cruz stands in opposition to Trump, saying that only his campaign can beat him.
"After tonight, we have seen that our campaign is the only campaign that has beaten, that can beat, and that will beat Donald Trump," he said. "Fifteen states have now voted. Every one of those states so far has been won by either Donald Trump or myself."
Meanwhile, Kasich is staying in the race after his Ohio victory, and still hopes to win the presidential nomination.
"As I've traveled the country and I look into your eyes, you want to believe, you want to believe again that we can have job security. You want to believe again that wages can rise," Kasich told his cheering supporters in Ohio. He also indicated that he will take his campaign to the western states.
