By Ronald Baygents, KUNA
Washington : John McCain remained the front-running Republican, while Hillary Clinton held onto a shaky lead among Democrats in US presidential contests in two dozen states on “Super Tuesday.” But, the results were mixed enough to keep alive the candidacies of key rivals, particularly that of Democrat Barack Obama who is surging in the money game and in perceived voter enthusiasm.
The biggest surprise of the day was the revival of the campaign of Republican Mike Huckabee, while the biggest loser was Republican Mitt Romney.
The top prize of California, the most populous US state, put Arizona Senator McCain and New York Senator Clinton in the strongest positions when they captured it in the final return of the night.
McCain, 71, took a commanding position early in the evening among Republicans by winning the second-biggest prize of the day, New York, along with Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, and Oklahoma.
Clinton, 60, took three big early prizes among Democrats, winning the delegate-rich Northeastern states of Massachusetts, New Jersey, and her home state of New York. Her rival, Senator Obama, 46, countered with important victories in his home state of Illinois and Georgia.
Former first lady Clinton then won in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, while Obama added Alabama, Delaware, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Utah.
Clinton aims to become the first female US president, while Obama hopes to become the first African-American US president.
McCain’s main Republican rival going into Super Tuesday, Romney, won in Massachusetts, where he once was governor, and in Utah, home of the Mormon church, of which he is a member. But the candidacy of Romney was complicated by the success of former Arkansas governor Huckabee, who won in Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, and West Virginia as well as Georgia, one of the largest second-tier states.
Huckabee, 52, the populist former Baptist minister who draws the bulk of his support from Christian evangelicals, has run his campaign on a shoe-string budget, while Romney, 60, is the wealthiest candidate in the field.
McCain later in the night won his home state of Arizona, then barely edged Huckabee in Missouri, while Romney took Colorado, North Dakota, and Minnesota.
Obama won later in the night in Idaho, Colorado, and Alaska, as Clinton prevailed in Arizona.
Democrats and Republicans alike said the economy was their most important issue.
Democrats said the war in Iraq ranked second and health care third. Republican primary voters said immigration was second, followed by the war in Iraq.
The campaigns now focus on Saturday contests in Louisiana, Kansas, Nebraska, and Washington state, then Maine on Sunday, followed by February 12 primaries in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Hawaii and Wisconsin vote on February 19.
Analysts believe the nominations, particularly for Democrats, could be decided March 4 when Texas and Ohio vote, or in Pennsylvania in April.
The number of delegates awarded to the candidates was unclear early on Wednesday. primarily because California splits its delegates on a proportional congressional district system.
Democrats have more proportional delegate-allocation states, which helps Obama, while Republicans have more winner-take-all states, which helps McCain.
The contests on Tuesday were delivering 1,023 Republican and 1,681 Democratic delegates. The Republican nominee needs 1,191 delegates, the Democratic nominee 2,025.