After the votes were counted across a dozen states late Tuesday night, the Republican and Democratic presidential primary frontrunners extended their lead over the field, but not by enough to claim total victory just yet.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton nabbed seven states on Tuesday, securing landslide victories in Southern contests. She won handily in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Clinton also claimed a narrow edge in the liberal haven of Massachusetts, besting Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) by one point, 50 to 49 percent with nearly all precincts reporting.
But it was far from a sweep for the favorite. Sanders resoundingly won in his home state of Vermont, beating Clinton there 86 to 14 percent. He also won by sizable margins in the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses, and the Oklahoma primary, surviving what could have been a Super Tuesday knockout punch by the Clinton campaign.
“FOUR big victories for our political revolution tonight. No one thought we would get this far,” the Sanders campaign said in an email to supporters Tuesday night. “We’re just getting started. People should not underestimate us.”
Clinton still holds a wide 544-349 lead over Sanders in terms of pledged delegates. The former Secretary also currently has an advantage among unelected “superdelegates”–party officials, elected lawmakers, and Democratic Party lobbyists who cast votes at the Democratic National Convention. Superdelegates that have already pledged to Clinton could change to Sanders, should he end up the clear favorite of Democratic primary voters.
The Sanders campaign is arguing that this could still happen with the electoral map shifting back into their favor, with 35 more states left to vote, and the majority of those contests taking place outside the South, where Sanders has struggled to connect with black voters. The campaign has promised to take the fight all the way to the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia this July.
On the Republican side, businessman Donald Trump continued his march to the GOP nomination. He claimed seven victories on Super Tuesday, including wins in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. Trump amassed more than 200 delegates on the night.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) spoiled some of Trump’s party, picking up a big win in his home state of Texas. Cruz also squeaked out wins in Alaska and Oklahoma. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), meanwhile, picked up his first victory in the GOP contest: the Minnesota caucuses.
Trump, however, maintains a commanding lead. In a victory press conference Tuesday night, Trump took aim at his likely opponent in the general election.
“Once we get all of this finished, I’m going to go after one person, and that’s Hillary Clinton,” he told reporters. He referred to how long Clinton has been in politics, saying, “if she hasn’t straightened it out by now, she’s not going to straighten it out in the next four years.”
Clinton also looked ahead toward a match-up against Trump. In a speech to supporters on Super Tuesday, she attacked Trump’s messaging.
“We know we’ve got work to do, but that work is not to make America great again,” she said. “America never stopped being great. We have to make America whole, we have to fill in, fill in what’s been hollowed out.”
Big states are slated to vote in the next two weeks. Both Republicans and Democrats have a primary in Michigan on March 8. One week after, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, and Florida all decide.
