SPARTANBURG, Feb 21 : Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump grabbed a big win in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, while Democrat Hillary Clinton breathed life into her sluggish campaign with a victory over Bernie Sanders in Nevada.
The wins for the brash billionaire and the former US secretary of state give them a major boost heading into the crucial next phase of the White House race -- Super Tuesday on March 1, when about a dozen states go to the polls.
In South Carolina, the 69-year-old Trump captured about a third of the votes, with all of the precincts reporting.
His supporters erupted in a roar when CNN called the contest in his favour -- his second win of the nominations race after New Hampshire and an important test of the strength of his bid to succeed President Barack Obama.
After several nail-biting hours, final results showed Florida Senator Marco Rubio in second place in the Republican contest with 22.5 percent of the vote, narrowly ahead of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who had 22.3 percent.
In Nevada, Clinton claimed a major win in the Democratic race. Final results gave her 52.7 percent of the vote against 47.2 percent for Sanders.
In the desert state of Nevada, the 68-year-old Clinton scored a major win, but Sanders proved he was in it for the long haul.
Meanwhile, Jeb Bush on Sunday dropped out of the Republican presidential race after a series of dismal performances in primaries and a sluggish campaign, as the Bush family's dream of an unprecedented third stint at the White House was shattered. An introvert but articulate Jeb, with no dearth of money and support base of establishment across the nation, was hoping to follow the footsteps of his father George H W Bush and his elder brother George W Bush.     ?AFP