US Democratic Party front-runner Mr John Kerry has taken a huge stride toward the US presidential nomination with wins in five states. However victories by Mr John Edwards and Mr Wesley Clark have kept the race alive.
Mr Kerry, riding a wave of momentum from back-to-back wins in the first two contests last month, yesterday won in Missouri, Arizona, Delaware, North Dakota and New Mexico as seven states voted on the biggest day yet in the race to find a challenger to President George W. Bush.
Mr Edwards, a senator from North Carolina, and Mr Clark, a retired general, scored wins in South Carolina and Oklahoma, respectively.
Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000 pulled out of the race, saying "the judgment of the voters is now clear."
Fallen front-runner Mr Howard Dean had pinned his hopes on so-called Super Tuesday, but put a brave face on his poor showing and promised to keep "going and going and going."
Mr Kerry, the Massachusetts senator and decorated Vietnam veteran who had faced questions about whether he could compete nationwide, answered with strong finishes in seven states in the South, East, West and Midwest.
"Now we will carry this campaign and the cause of a stronger, fairer, more prosperous America to every part of America," Mr Kerry said at a victory rally in Seattle.
"We will take nothing for granted, we will compete everywhere, and in November, we will beat George W. Bush," he said.
Mr Clark, the former commander of NATO and a political novice, scored a narrow win over Mr Edwards in Oklahoma, where he led by 1,300 votes with all precincts reporting.
"As an old soldier from Arkansas, I couldn't be prouder of your support in this first election I've ever won," Mr Clark told supporters in Oklahoma City.
The double-digit victory by Edwards in South Carolina, which he labelled a must-win state, and his strong showing in Oklahoma boosted his argument he would provide the strongest opponent to Bush in rural areas and in the South.
"Tonight you said that the politics of lifting people up beats the politics of tearing people down," Edwards, who emphasised a positive message focused on the economy, told roaring supporters in downtown Columbia, South Carolina.
"Today we said clearly to the American people that in our country, in our America, everything is possible," Edwards said.
A total of 269 delegates to July's nominating convention were at stake in the seven states voting on Tuesday, with 2,162 needed to win the nomination.