Donald Trump moved closer to a presidential showdown with Hillary Clinton after claiming three further states in the contest for the Republican nomination.
The property mogul, who has pledged a blanket ban on Muslims entering the US if he wins, scored victories in Florida, North Carolina and Illinois in what was dubbed “mini super Tuesday”.
His progress prompted establishment favourite Marco Rubio to drop out of the contest after the Florida senator lost his home state.
In the Democratic race, Mrs Clinton won at least four states, dealing a severe blow to contender Bernie Sanders. Some counts were yet to announce.
Mr Trump has upended the political establishment by winning most of the state-by-state competitions for delegates who will choose the Republican nominee.
He has seized on Americans' anger with Washington politicians, attracting voters with his simply worded promise to make America great again.
The billionaire entered Tuesday's primaries embroiled in one of the biggest controversies of his contentious campaign after he encouraged supporters to confront protesters at his events.
He is now facing accusations of encouraging violence after skirmishes at a rally last week in Chicago that he ended up cancelling.
But speaking on ABC’s Good Morning America on Tuesday, he said: "I don't think I should be toning it down because I've had the biggest rallies of anybody probably ever.”
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Tuesday's votes in five states had been viewed as a pivotal moment in the Republican campaign. For the first time, two states - Ohio and Florida - had winner-take-all contests.
A Trump sweep could have given him an insurmountable lead in the delegate count, but the contests brought little clarity.
Ohio governor John Kasich won his home state in his first victory of the campaign. He is seen as the Republican party’s last true establishment candidate.
But arch-conservative Ted Cruz insisted the battle was a “two person” race between him and Mr Trump.
Mr Trump now has 621 delegates, while Mr Cruz has 396, Mr Kasich 138 and Mr Rubio left the race with 168. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president.
In the Democratic race, Ms Clinton scored victories in Florida, Ohio, Illinois and North Carolina.
Mr Sanders, a Vermont senator and self-described democratic socialist, is unlikely to overtake her in the delegate count, but his victory last week in Michigan underscored the unease many party voters have about her candidacy.
Her wins on Tuesday put Ms Clinton in a commanding position to become the first woman in US history to win a major party nomination.
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