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Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton ahead in Florida and North Carolina Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton win big - but fail to secure clean sweeps
(about 2 hours later)
Donald Trump seemed set for another successful night as early results predicted that he was far ahead in the vital battle for Florida. Hillary Clinton was also projected to be ahead in the so-called Sunshine State Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton emerged big winners after the second Super Tuesday - a result that forced Marco Rubio to drop out of the Republican race and cemented their frontrunner status.
CNN said that with 29 per cent of votes counted Mr Trump was on 45 points, with Marco Rubio on 27, Ted Cruz on 15 and John Kasich on 8. Ms Clinton was on 66 per cent, with Bernie Sanders on 31 points.  Ms Clinton won four states, and increased her tally of delegates ever higher than those of her Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders.
Yet the network also suggested that Mr Trump was not on route to secure a clean sweep, as he had hoped. While he was ahead in North Carolina, Ohio Governor Kasich was leading him in a state that carries 66 delegates. Ms Clinton was also leading Mr Sanders in Ohio and North Carolina, though the race in Ohio was very tight. But while Mr Trump won Florida, Illinois and North Carolina, along with the Northern Mariana Islands, he crucially failed to win the state of Ohio, being pushed into second place by Governor John Kasich. 
Mr Trump had gone into Tuesday having already won 15 states. As people in the mainland US were waking up, he claimed his 16th win, when the Northern Mariana Islands reported that the tycoon had won the vote in the Pacific island, and its haul of nine delegates. The defeat has the potential to be hugely significant; without the 66 Republican delegates that party there awards in a winner-takes-all basis, Mr Trump now needs to win 60 per cent of all remaining delegates to win the nomination outright before the party’s convention this summer. So far, he has not won at a rate of more than 50 per cent.
The battle for Florida, with its 99 Republican delegates, awarded on a winner-takes all basis, is a far bigger prize.  If he fails that, given the opposition to the billionaire among the party’s establishment, it is likely he could face a bitter challenge at the convention in Cleveland, something that has not happened since 1976.
The projection saw Senator Rubio bring his presidential campaign end in the face of inevitable defeat in his home state. The 44-year-old told supporters: “It is clear that while we are on the right side, this year we will not be on the winning side,” adding: “Today my campaign is suspended.” Mr Trump did not mention this in a victory speech at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, where he said something was happening in the Republican Party that was being noticed “all over the world.”
For the Democrats, Florida, with its 214 delegates, is similarly a huge prize, though the party awards its delegates on a proportional basis, meaning that Mr Sanders will add something to his total from there. He even found it in him to praise Mr Rubio, the Florida senator with whom he had repeatedly clashed during the course of the campaign, saying he was a tough, smart candidate who had “a great future”.
But Mr Kasich was also looking to the future, taking in the applause from his supporters gathered at the Baldwin Wallace University on the edge of Cleveland. While it is difficult to see him winning another state in the weeks going forward, many observers believe Mr Kasich will try and present himself as a compromise candidate at the convention.
“I represent you,” he said to loud cheers, “It’s my job to listen to your problems and then go and fix them. It’s been my intention to make you proud.”
Along with Mr Trump and Senator Ted Cruz, Mr Kasich will now be one of just three candidates left in the Republican race, the sole occupant of the so-called establishment candidate lane, given Mr Rubio’s decision to suspend his campaign. 
"It is clear that while we are on the right side, this year we will not be on the winning side,” he told supporters in Miami. “While this may not have been the year for a hopeful and optimistic message about our future, I still remain hopeful and optimistic about America.”
The Democratic battle looked slightly simpler than that of the Republicans. Having chalked up another four wins, she seemed ready to conclude the battle for the party’s nomination and get on the with the real fight of the general election.
“We are moving closer to securing the Democratic Party nomination and winning this election in November,” she said, speaking to her supporters in Florida’s Palm Beach.