Super Tuesday: Live results and analysis

REPUBLICAN nominee hopeful Donald Trump has dominated Super Tuesday, but he still has one massive problem. Here are all of the results.

It’s going well for Hillary Clinton tonight.

TRUMPAGEDDON is upon us.

Donald Trump has dominated his Republican rivals in the pivotal Super Tuesday primary elections. On the other side, Hillary Clinton has further solidified her lead over the insurgent senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders.

Scroll down for all the results and updates.

Everything you need to know about Super Tuesday

Trump still has one huge problem

RESULTS

Virginia, 99% reporting - TRUMP, CLINTON win

Trump 35, Rubio 32, Cruz 17, Kasich 9, Carson 6

Clinton 64, Sanders 35

Georgia, 85% reporting - TRUMP, CLINTON win

Trump 40, Cruz 24, Rubio 24, Carson 6, Kasich 5

Clinton 71, Sanders 28

Vermont, 85% reporting - TRUMP, SANDERS win

Trump 33, Kasich 31, Rubio 19, Cruz 10, Carson 4

Sanders 86, Clinton 14

Alabama, 94% reporting - TRUMP, CLINTON win

Trump 44, Cruz 21, Rubio 18, Carson 10, Kasich 4

Clinton 79, Sanders 18

Massachusetts, 95% reporting - TRUMP, CLINTON win

Trump 49, Kasich 18, Rubio 18, Cruz 10, Carson 3

Clinton 51, Sanders 48

Oklahoma, 100% reporting - CRUZ, SANDERS win

Cruz 34, Trump 28, Rubio 26, Carson 6, Kasich 4

Sanders 52, Clinton 41

Tennessee, 99% reporting - TRUMP, CLINTON win

Trump 40, Cruz 25, Rubio 21, Carson 8, Kasich 5

Clinton 66, Sanders 33

Texas, 100% reporting - CRUZ, CLINTON win

Cruz 43, Trump 28, Rubio 18, Kasich 4, Carson 4

Clinton 66, Sanders 31

Arkansas, 85% reporting - TRUMP, CLINTON win

Trump 34, Cruz 30, Rubio 25, Carson 6, Kasich 4

Clinton 68, Sanders 28

Minnesota, 100% reporting - RUBIO, SANDERS win

Rubio 37, Cruz 29, Trump 21, Carson 7, Kasich 6

Sanders 59, Clinton 41

Colorado, 69% reporting - SANDERS wins

Sanders 58, Clinton 42

Alaska, 18% reporting

Trump 36, Cruz 35, Rubio 15, Carson 10, Kasich 5

Donald Trump during his victory speech. With Chris Christie looking sad in the background.

WHERE THE RACES STAND NOW

Republicans

Donald Trump is in an even more dominant position now thanks to victories in seven Super Tuesday states. He’s also leading in Alaska, so that could become the eighth.

Ted Cruz has surged into second place overall thanks to a big win in his home state, Texas, plus another in Oklahoma. But his future looks bleak. Cruz is strongest in the south, and most of those states have already voted - for Trump. He’ll struggle to compete in the more moderate northern states.

Marco Rubio now finds himself a distant third, with a huge delegate deficit to make up. John Kasich’s continued presence in the race likely cost Rubio victories in Virginia and Vermont, as the Ohio governor siphoned off a big chunk of the moderate vote. And he also prevented Rubio from crossing the all-important 20 per cent threshold in two or three southern states, including Texas. That cost the Florida senator a bunch of delegates.

All eyes now turn to March 15, when Rubio and Kasich’s home states, Florida and Ohio, vote in winner-take-all primaries. If Trump can win those two states, he’ll be all but guaranteed the nomination.

Trump states: New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Nevada

Cruz states: Iowa, Texas, Oklahoma

Rubio state: Minnesota

The Republican map.

Democrats

Bernie Sanders is still picking off a state here and there, but Hillary Clinton’s dominance in the racially diverse south is keeping her in front of him.

Once you add in Clinton’s huge advantage among the Democratic Party’s super delegates, which we’ve discussed in some depth here, she appears to have weathered Sanders’ challenge easily. Her path to the nomination appears to be clear.

Clinton states: Iowa, Massachusetts, Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Nevada, Texas

Sanders states: Vermont, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Colorado, Minnesota

And the Democratic one.

3:25pm: Rubio refuses to back away

With the media almost universally calling him the loser of Super Tuesday and his rivals telling him to get out of the race, Marco Rubio was defiant in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper.

“There will never come a time in this race when our supporters are asking us to get out and rally around Donald Trump,” Rubio said.

“What our supporters are saying is you need to fight to save the party.

“This is a fight to save the Republican Party, and I’m not going to stop fighting.”

As the conversation turned to Rubio’s strategy going forward, the Florida Senator said he remains upbeat.

“The terrain gets better for us now,” Rubio said. “I’m very confident that as we move into the March 15 states, we’ll start to win more.

“If you look at the states that are about to come, they’re where we’re going to catch fire.”

One piece of good news for Rubio: he’s just won Minnesota. That’s his first triumph of the campaign.

2:05pm: The post-mortems have already started

The pundits’ verdict is in, and Marco Rubio is being declared the big loser of the night. He’s failing to reach the crucial 20 per cent threshold in a few states today (and is therefore missing out on delegates), and is behind in the polls in his home state.

“If there’s a theme for Rubio so far tonight, it could be that he’s falling tantalizingly short in multiple places and probably wishes he could redistribute some of his voters across state lines,” writes David Wasserman for FiveThirtyEight.

“He could trail Cruz substantially in delegates at the end of the night, despite winning a comparable share of the national vote.”

Cruz himself used his victory speech in Texas to call for Rubio to drop out, along with Ben Carson and John Kasich, and unite behind his campaign.

On CNN, conservative analyst S.E. Cupp was downbeat about Rubio’s failure so far, saying he was the Republican Party’s one great hope to beat Hillary Clinton in the general election.

“Rubio is inarguably the most electable in a general. He cannot prove that to anyone yet, because he hasn’t won anywhere,” she said, going on to lament Donald Trump’s rise.

“We have been waiting for the candidate who could harness the enthusiasm of the Republican electorate. We’ve found him - it’s just he’ll destroy the party in the process.”

Rubio had better hope Minnesota falls his way today.

1:50pm: Donald Trump speaks

“This has been amazing,” Trump told his supporters, before congratulating Ted Cruz for winning in Texas and Marco Rubio for ... working hard. He promised to focus on winning Rubio’s home state, Florida, which votes in two weeks, before taking a few shots at the senator.

“We’re going to go to Florida, we’re going to spend a lot of time in Florida,” he said.

“Rubio didn’t win anything. He hasn’t won anything, and he’s not going to win very much.”

Trump took the unusual step of taking questions from the press after his statement. One reporter asked about the Republicans who say they’ll never support Trump, to which he replied: “That would be the work of a loser.”

“I’m a unifier,” he went on to say. “I know people are going to find that a little hard to believe, but I am a unifier.

“We are going to be a unified party. We are going to be a much bigger party. Our party is expanding.”

Also present was New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who endorsed Trump last week, but didn’t seem all that excited to be there.

Christie just realized that this is no dream, this is really happening. #SuperTuesday pic.twitter.com/1HT9yKjdFD

— Mic (@micnews) March 2, 2016

governor christie, blink three times if trump is holding you hostage

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) March 2, 2016

1:20pm: This is fun

1:05pm: Finally, Trump loses somewhere

Senator Ted Cruz has won his home state, Texas, adding to his victory in Iowa last month. He’s still the only candidate who’s managed to beat Donald Trump. And the networks are projecting a win for him in Oklahoma as well.

12:55pm: Clinton’s victory speech

Hillary Clinton was in a jubilant mood for her speech in Florida, having already claimed victories in five states.

“All across the country today, Democrats voted to break down barriers so we can all rise together,” she said.

“We have to make America whole. We have to fill in what’s been hollowed out. We have to make strong the broken places.

“I believe what we need in America today is more love and kindness.”

Clinton took a very clear shot at Donald Trump, to the delight of her supporters.

“The rhetoric we’re hearing on the other side has never been lower. Trying to divide America between us and them is wrong, and we’re not going to let it happen.”

Clinton’s supporters celebrate.

12:45pm: Trump wins Virginia

It was close, but Donald Trump is now projected to win Virginia, which will be a crucial swing state in the general election. Marco Rubio’s challenge there has fallen short.

12:30pm: Another triumph for Hillary

The polls just closed in Arkansas, a state where Hillary Clinton was once the first lady. She’s won it.

On the Republican side, the exit poll shows Donald Trump leading with 34 per cent, compared to 30 per cent for Ted Cruz and 25 per cent with Marco Rubio.

12:00pm: Polls close in four states

Donald Trump has immediately been projected to win Alabama, Massachusetts and Tennessee. Hillary Clinton has won Alabama and Tennessee.

There are three close races in this batch of states. CNN’s exit polls show Ted Cruz leading in Oklahoma with 32 per cent, ahead of Trump and Rubio with 27 per cent apiece. And Bernie Sanders appears to hold narrow leads over Clinton in Oklahoma and Massachusetts.

It’s going well for Hillary Clinton tonight.

11:30am: Bernie Sanders’ early victory speech

After claiming victory in his home state, Vermont, Sanders decided to give his speech nice and early - and before Clinton’s expected sweep of the southern states.

“This election is not just about electing a president, it’s about transforming America,” Sanders said.

“Together, we are going to create an economy that works for all of us, not just the people on top.

“What the political revolution is about is bringing our people together.”

Sanders insisted he’s still capable of winning the Democratic nomination, pointing out that today’s states allocate their delegates proportionally.

“This is not a general election. It’s not winner take all,” he said. “By the end of tonight, we are going to win many hundreds of delegates.”

Democratic underdog Bernie Sanders.

11:00am: Early projections

The news networks have already called Georgia and Virginia for Hillary Clinton. Unsurprisingly, Bernie Sanders has won his home state. Donald Trump has won Georgia.

Meanwhile, the exit polls show Trump is leading in Vermont and Virginia - but narrowly. CBS’s polls, for instance, have Trump leading Kasich 32-31 in Vermont and beating Rubio 34-31 in Virginia.

Rubio has been campaigning hard in Virginia.

10:50am: Trump’s one big problem

Exit polls are notoriously unreliable, but this one from Fox News illustrates a big problem for Trump. If he becomes the Republican nominee, many of the party’s core voters could refuse to support him.

.@marthamaccallum: “Look how many key voters would be dissatisfied if @realDonaldTrump walked away w/ the nominee." pic.twitter.com/SbQ4yu5qCP

— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 1, 2016

This week, Bloomberg columnist Megan McArdle gathered feedback from hundreds of lifelong Republicans who say they could never vote for Trump, even if it meant a victory for Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders in the general election.

“I think a Donald Trump nomination would destroy the conservative cause. I think Hillary Clinton in the White House would be a disaster, but is far preferable to Trump,” said one reader.

“I agree with Donald Trump on virtually nothing and don’t consider him a Republican. Not only won’t I vote for him in a general election, but I’ll vote for either Hillary or Sanders and will do so without a tad of guilt of voting for a Democrat,” said another.

You can read more examples over at Bloomberg.

Anonymous voters aren’t the only ones voicing their disgust at the state of the race. Some elected Republicans, such as Senator Ben Sasse, have made it clear they will never support Trump as their nominee.

Much of the conservative media is also in open revolt against the frontrunner. Take this example from National Review’s David French.

“There was a time when I was more amused than appalled by Trump,” French writes.

“Those days are long past. The crucible of the campaign has revealed him to be petty, malicious and vindictive. He isn’t as bad as his critics feared — he’s worse.”

If he does claim the nomination, Trump will need to win over these people — or find enough new voters to replace them.

“Come on guys, what’s the problem? I’m terrific.”

10:40am: Trump keeps firing

A few hours before the polls started closing, Donald Trump was still smacking down his rivals.

Speaking in Kentucky, Trump called Marco Rubio “a total lightweight”, then labelled Ted Cruz “a basket case” and “a liar.”

However, he held his fire on Ben Carson, calling him a “nice guy”, and didn’t provide any descriptions for John Kasich.

That sums up Kasich pretty well. The Governor of Ohio has been running for president since July of last year, though you’d be forgiven for failing to notice. So why’s he still in the race? We tried to answer that question here.

Ohio governor John Kasich.

10:30am: What happens after Super Tuesday?

Trump should emerge from Super Tuesday with plenty of momentum, but he can’t win the nomination today. As the New York Times has pointed out, Rubio could lose every state and still have a “real chance” of overtaking Trump later.

Having said that, the moment of truth is approaching fast. The key date is March 15, when Rubio’s home state of Florida joins several others in staging pivotal, winner-take-all contests. If Trump can defeat the local boy in his own state, claiming all 99 of its delegates in the process, the rest of the primaries will become little more than a formality.

With so much at stake, the two weeks between Super Tuesday and the Florida primary will be brutal, as Trump’s detractors desperately try to tear him down.

Rubio himself has been savaging Trump non-stop since the Republican debate last week, trading increasingly juvenile insults with the real estate mogul in an attempt to get under his skin.

“We have a con artist as the frontrunner in the Republican Party. A guy who has made a career out of telling people lies so they’ll come in and buy his product,” Rubio told a rally of loyal supporters recently.

“If you nominate me, you will have a conservative who unites the Republican Party and brings us together after this circus act we’ve had to live with for nine months.”

That’s just a taste of what’s to come — particularly at the next debate, due to take place on Friday our time.

Marco Rubio has been hammering Donald Trump lately.