Victories for Clinton and McCain in US primaries

Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama shift their fight to South Carolina after a split result in Nevada's contest failed to yield a clear winner in the battle for the US Democratic presidential nomination.

Republican John McCain's victory in South Carolina gave his campaign much-needed momentum ahead of a crucial battle in Florida.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney won among the Republicans in Nevada.

Clinton captured the popular vote among Democrats Saturday in Nevada, but Obama edged her out for national convention delegates, taking 13 to her 12.

Their next battle will be the Democrats' first in the South, where Obama is relying on black voters, who make up more than half of the South Carolina Democratic electorate, to give him a winning edge.

Most polls have him leading Clinton in the state. Clinton has won over many influential black leaders however and had led in the state before Obama's Iowa victory established him as a strong contender.

Overall, Clinton leads the Democrats' delegate race with 236, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Obama has a total of 136. Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards is trailing with 50 delegates, making it crucial that he has a strong showing in the upcoming races.

Among the Republicans, McCain, whose campaign was left for dead six months ago, quickly predicted that victory in the first southern primary would help him next week when Florida votes, and again on February 5, dubbed "Super Tuesday", when more than two dozen states hold primaries and caucuses.

"We've got a long way to go," McCain said.

The Arizona senator defeated former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in a close race in the conservative state that snuffed out his presidential hopes eight years ago. McCain had 33% of the vote to just under 30% for his closest rival. He won 19 delegates, to five for Huckabee.

Appearing before supporters, Huckabee was a gracious loser, congratulating McCain for "running a civil and a good and a decent campaign".

Far from conceding defeat in the race, he added: "The process is far, far from over."

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson was in a struggle for third place with about 16%, after saying he needed a strong showing to sustain his candidacy. Another Republican, California congressman Duncan Hunter, dropped out of the presidential race even before the votes were tallied.

Romney rolled to victory in Nevada Republican caucuses, winning roughly 50% of the vote in a multi-candidate field. The other top Republican candidates campaigned little in Nevada, deeming South Carolina the more important race for being the first contest in a southern state, which is strong Republican territory.

Candidates are vying to amass enough delegates in state-by-state contests to secure their party's presidential nomination at the national convention this summer.

In the overall race for delegates, Romney leads with 59, followed by Huckabee with 40 and McCain with 36. A total of 1,191 delegates are needed to secure the Republican nomination.

With three contests on the ballot, yesterday was the busiest day of the presidential campaign to date, and fittingly enough for a pair of wide-open races, every contest produced a different winner.

With a black man and a woman as the leading contenders, the Democratic race was history in the making.

Interviews with Democratic caucus-goers indicated that Clinton won about half the votes cast by whites and women, and two-thirds support from Hispanics, many of them members of the union that endorsed Obama. He won about 80% of the black vote.

The split Democratic verdict in Nevada resulted from the proportional manner in which delegates were awarded. Obama emerged with one more than Clinton because he ran strongly in rural areas.

Obama and Clinton face off again in next Saturday's Democratic primary in South Carolina. The state is home to thousands of black voters, who are expected to comprise as much as half the Democratic electorate.

On the Republican side, Romney's western victory marked his second straight success, coming quickly after a first-place finish in the Michigan primary revived a faltering campaign.

Romney had campaigned for months to win early contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, and his candidacy was in trouble when he lost both.

Nevada Republicans said the economy and illegal immigration were their top concerns, according to a survey of voters entering the caucuses. Romney led among voters who cited both issues.

Final returns showed him with more than 50% support in a multi-candidate field.

Mormons gave Romney about half his votes. He is hoping to become the first member of his faith to win the White House.

Romney also won at least 17 of the 31 Republican National Convention delegates at stake. McCain and libertarian-leaning Texas congressman Ron Paul won at least four apiece, while Thompson and Huckabee each won two. Rudy Giuliani won one delegate - the first of the campaign for the former New York mayor.

Alone among the major Republican contenders, Giuliani skipped the day's events. He camped out in Florida, the first of the big states to vote, with a winner-take-all primary.