McCain scores big; Clinton, Obama battle over delegates

WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. John McCain won a big victory in the Republican delegate race over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Super Tuesday, extending his lead by capturing nearly all the delegates in California.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton held onto a relatively small lead over Sen. Barack Obama. However, there were still outstanding delegates to be awarded in Illinois and Georgia, where Obama fared well.
McCain won 605 delegates to 201 for Romney and 152 for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in incomplete results. A total of 1,023 delegates were up for grabs in 21 states. A day after the votes were cast there were still 55 to be awarded.
Overall, McCain led with 707 delegates, to 294 for Romney and 195 for Huckabee. It takes 1,191 to win the nomination at this summer’s convention in St. Paul, Minn.
Clinton led with 784 Super Tuesday delegates to Obama’s 758. In Missouri, the race was so close the two candidates split the state’s 72 delegates evenly.
A total of 1,681 delegates were at stake in 22 states and American Samoa. There were 139 still to be awarded.
Overall, Clinton has 1,045 delegates, to 960 for Obama with 2,025 delegates required to claim the nomination in Denver at this summer’s convention.
The AP tracks the delegate races by projecting the number of national convention delegates won by candidates in each presidential primary or caucus, based on state and national party rules, and by interviewing unpledged delegates to obtain their preferences.
In some states, like Iowa and Nevada, local precinct caucuses are the first stage in the allocation process. The AP uses preferences expressed in those caucuses to project the number of national convention delegates each candidate will have when they are chosen at county, congressional district or state conventions.