Republican Donald Trump rolled to victory on Saturday in South Carolina and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton beat back a strong challenge from Bernie Sanders in the Nevada caucuses.
The victories by Trump and Clinton solidified their positions as the front-runners to win their parties' respective presidential nominations ahead of the Nov. 8 election.
Trump won despite getting into a controversy with Pope Francis and having a debate performance that raised questions about his temperament in the days before the voting.
Trump, 69, easily defeated Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who were in a close fight for second place and the right to declare themselves the main anti-Trump alternative.
With 22 percent of South Carolina precincts reporting, Trump had 34.1 percent, followed by Rubio with 21.6 percent and Cruz with 21.5 percent.
