Clinton, Romney win in Nevada; McCain takes South Carolina. (2024)

Byline: Reuters, Associated Press, & Agence France Presse

COLUMBIA, South Carolina, United States (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain won heated presidential nominating battles in separate contests in Nevada and South Carolina on Saturday, gaining strength in a chaotic White House race where no candidate has been able to sustain momentum.

Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, won the Republican caucus in Nevada that his rivals had largely skipped in order to concentrate on South Carolina.

Senator Clinton beat rival Sen. Barack Obama in a tough Nevada struggle that featured voting in the state's famed casino hotels and produced heated charges of irregularities. The pair had split the first two Democratic contests in New Hampshire and Iowa.

McCain, an Arizona senator, narrowly defeated rival Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, in a fight focused on the economy in South Carolina -- a state where his presidential hopes were destroyed in a bitter 2000 battle that set George W. Bush on the road to the presidency.

No one in either party has claimed the role of favorite in the race to pick the two candidates to contest the Nov. 4 election to succeed Bush, with the first major state-by-state battles producing multiple winners.

For the victors on Saturday, the prize is a jolt of energy in a race where momentum has been shortlived. Republican contenders head to Florida for a Jan. 29 primary, while Democrats focus on the party's next Saturday's primary in South Carolina.

Clinton, who would be the first US woman president, won the Nevada Democratic race, 51 percent to 45 percent over Obama, with turnout reported to surpass 115,000 voters. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards finished a distant third.

McCain's win in South Carolina, following his New Hampshire victory, was fueled by support from conservatives, with exit polls showing 7 in 10 voters in the state primary described themselves that way.

More than half of the voters were religious conservatives, but that was not enough to give the win to Huckabee, a Baptist preacher before he entered politics whose Iowa win was fueled by evangelical support.

South Carolina Republicans have been kingmakers in party politics, with the Republican winner in the state going on to capture the party's nomination every year since 1980.

With almost all votes counted, McCain led Huckabee 33 percent to 30 percent in South Carolina. Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson was edging Romney for third place.

Romney's convincing win in Nevada followed his breakthrough victory in Michigan last week after two disappointing secondplace finishes.

Romney stressed his ability as a former business executive to tackle economic problems. Exit polls showed the economy was the top concern among Nevada's Republican voters, followed closely by immigration.

Rep. Duncan Hunter of California fell victim to poor showings in all the early contests and dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination.

Clinton, Obama split Nevada's national convention delegates

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- Sen. John McCain won the South Carolina primary Saturday night, gaining ground in an unpredictable battle for the Republican presidential nomination. Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama split the spoils in Nevada caucuses marred by late charges of dirty politics.

Clinton captured the popular vote Saturday, but Obama edged her out for national convention delegates at stake, taking 13 to her 12.

McCain, whose campaign was left for dead six months ago, quickly predicted that victory in the first southern primary would help him next week when Florida votes, and again on Feb. 5 when more than two dozen states hold primaries and caucuses.

The Arizona senator defeated former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in a close race in the conservative state that snuffed out his presidential hopes eight years ago, when George W. Bush won there.

McCain was gaining 33 percent of the vote to just under 30 percent for his closest rival. He won 19 delegates, to five for Huckabee.

Appearing before supporters, Huckabee was a gracious loser, congratulating McCain for "running a civil and a good and a decent campaign." Far from conceding defeat in the race, he added, "The process is far, far from over."

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson was in a struggle for third place with about 16 percent, after saying he needed a strong showing to sustain his candidacy. Another Republican, California Rep. Duncan Hunter, dropped out even before the votes were tallied.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney rolled to victory in the Nevada Republican caucus, winning roughly 50 percent of the vote in a multi-candidate field. The other top Republican candidates campaigned little in Nevada, deeming South Carolina the more important race for being the first contest in a southern state, which is strong Republican territory.

McCain takes South Carolina; Huckabee second

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AFP) -- Republican White House hopeful John McCain scooped a sweet victory in South Carolina Saturday.

With 93 percent of the precincts counted, Senator McCain was ahead with 33 percent of the vote over 30 percent for former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee in the state that eight years ago destroyed his presidential hopes.

McCain noted that in every presidential race since 1980, South Carolina has picked the eventual Republican nominee for the White House.

Hillary Clinton, the former first lady bidding to be the first woman US president, earlier won 51 percent of the popular vote in the Nevada caucuses, against 45 percent for Barack Obama. John Edwards trailed with just four percent.

But in a sign of how tight the race is, Obama's campaign contended that the Illinois senator had in fact won more delegates to the national convention that will choose the Democrats' presidential candidate in the November election.

The claim was disputed by both the Nevada Democratic Party's leader and the Clinton campaign, which said Obama's team was plain "wrong."

Clinton's fresh triumph over Obama gives her campaign a shot of energy ahead of South Carolina's Democratic primary next Saturday, leading into Super Tuesday when more than 20 states will be up for grabs.

Obama, who beat Clinton in Iowa at the start of the 2008 race only to see her come back in New Hampshire, pledged his bid to be the country's first black president was far from over.