Roundup: Trump, Clinton solidify lead with big wins on Super Tuesday

Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump scored major victories on Super Tuesday, further cementing their status as the undisputed front-runners of each party.

On the Democratic side, Clinton won by a landslide all six states that make up her so-called southern "firewall," dealing a strong blow to her Democratic rival Bernie Sanders.

Clinton also won in Massachusetts, one of Sanders' northern strongholds.

The seven states won by Clinton -- Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, plus Massachusetts -- held a combined 662 delegates, leaving her rival with increasingly long odds of overtaking her.

According to a New York Times delegate count, Clinton's sweeping victories on Tuesday gave her 527 delegates compared to Sanders' 325. The nomination will be decided in July.

On Super Tuesday, both Democratic and Republican contests award delegates proportionally based on secured votes, and it takes 2,382 delegates of the 4,763 delegates in total to win the Democratic Party nomination.

Speaking at a rally in Miami, Florida, Clinton appeared to be eyeing the general election as she blasted the Republican front-runner Trump.

"It's clear tonight that the stakes in this election have never been higher and the rhetoric we are hearing on the other side has never been lower," said Clinton.

Despite his now uphill battle to stay in the race, Sanders on Tuesday pledged to continue his candidacy into the last contest in June.

"Let me assure you that we are going to take our fight for economic justice, for social justice, for environment sanity, for a world of peace to every one of those states," said Sanders, referring to the 35 states which have yet to vote in the primary process.

Sanders won his home state Vermont along with Colorado, Minnesota and Oklahoma.

On the Republican side, billionaire developer Trump scored major victories on Tuesday, winning at least 7 of 11 Republican primaries.

Trump was projected the winner of Republican races in Arkansas, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Vermont and Tennessee while Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, his two major rivals, won three states in total.

The result of the Alaska caucus, with only 28 delegates at stake, is yet to come.

Speaking at a rally in Florida, Trump called himself a "unifier" despite the fact that his blunt and sometimes even incendiary remarks about immigration had so far fractured the Republican party and alienated Latino voters.

"Our party is expanding, and all you have to do is take a look at the primary states where I've won," said Trump. "I think we're going to be more inclusive, more unified and a much bigger party, and I think we're going to win in November."

Meanwhile, Trump's strong showing in five of the six southern states on Super Tuesday delivered a strong blow to Cruz, who had long expected the South to be his firewall.

However, Cruz on Tuesday night looked to drive Rubio out of the race while speaking at a rally in Texas, where he won handily over Trump.

"Tomorrow morning we have a choice," said Cruz. "So long as the field remains divided, Donald Trump's path to the nomination remains more likely, and that would be a disaster for Republicans, conservatives, and for nation."

After former Florida Governor Jeb Bush bowed out of the race after the South Carolina primary, Rubio had been stacking up endorsements overwhelmingly from Republican governors and lawmakers. However, he has secured only one primary victory.

The tough Super Tuesday for Rubio had so far raised doubts in at least one Republican lawmaker as to whether the wrong contender was chosen to derail Trump's path to the nomination.

"We may be in a position where we have to rally around Ted Cruz as the only way to stop Donald Trump. And I'm not sure that would work," said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham in an interview with the U.S. TV network CBS News.

In his own defense, Rubio on Tuesday night appeared to divert attention from his weak showing by calling Cruz the Super Tuesday loser.

"Tonight was supposed to be his (Cruz) night," said Rubio on Fox News. "Cruz was arguing that Super Tuesday was his firewall." Endi