Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNSAfter Super Tuesday, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton surged ahead of their rivals.
In 12 states, 595 Republican delegates and 859 Democratic delegates were up for grabs.
Super Tuesday is important because it is the first time the campaign is demographically and geographically representative. There are contests in nearly every region of the country. The number of delegates in play means that any candidate who doesn’t do well on Super Tuesday faces a major uphill battle toward their party’s nomination.
The Associated Press projects Trump won six states and at least 139 delegates, inching him ever-closer to the 1,237 needed to secure his party’s nomination.
On the other side, Clinton is also projected to win seven states and picked up at least 373 delegates. She currently has 464 delegates out of the 2,383 needed. Her race with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has been much tighter than the Republican race and, indeed, closer than was predicted a year ago.
Republican Ted Cruz is projected to win his home state of Texas and the neighboring state of Oklahoma.
Sanders handily won his home state of Vermont, as well as picking up projected wins in Minnesota, Oklahoma and Colorado.
Marco Rubio is projected to win Minnesota and had a second place finish in Virginia.
Trump and John Kasich were in a virtual tie in Vermont’s Republican primary at press time.
Ben Carson failed to pick up any delegates in any of the 12 states. In an op-ed for Fox News last weekend, Carson wrote that he intends to stay in the race despite having won only two delegates since Iowa.
This article originally appeared on The Collegiate Live.