Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton score early wins

Baku. 2 March. REPORT.AZ/ Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton have moved closer to winning their parties' nominations with a series of victories in the Super Tuesday elections, Report informs citing Euronews.

Clinton and Trump each won at least seven of 11 state races as they distanced themselves from party rivals and looked ahead to the November 8 presidential election.

Ted Cruz, a conservative senator, won his home state of Texas and Oklahoma as he sought to emerge as Trump's main rival.

Clinton's only opponent, Bernie Sanders, also won Oklahoma, as well as his home state of Vermont, Colorado and Minnesota.

Cruz desperately needed the Texas win in order to stay in the race, and was likely to keep campaigning as the only Republican who has been able to defeat Trump in any primary contest.

Still, 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.

Instead, he has watched Trump, a brash New York real estate mogul, display surprising strength with the region's evangelical Christians and social conservatives.

For Marco Rubio, who is also seeking to emerge as the main alternative to Trump, the night was disappointing. While Republican officeholders have rallied around him in recent days, he only managed to score a campaign win in Minnesota.

His long-shot hopes now rest with his home state, Florida, which votes on March 15, but polls show him trailing Trump there.