Bloomberg waits in wings as Clinton, Trump savour wins

SUPER Tuesday brought former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and billionaire businessman Donald Trump triumphs across many of the 12 states and one US territory holding polls; she has now emerged as the presumptive Democratic Party presidential candidate, while he is becoming a strong favourite for the Republican crown.

While most attention has been trained on the rancorous Republican race, the historic nature of Mrs Clinton's impending Democratic victory should not be forgotten. She looks very likely to become the first woman ever to become a nominee for either of the major parties, which is a massive moment in the nation's history, particularly since it comes so soon after the 2008 emergence of Barack Obama as the first black nominee and, subsequently, president.

In what was the single biggest day of voting during the primary season - Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia held polls - Mrs Clinton won a large majority of the Democratic races. That said, socialist Senator Bernie Sanders remains in the race for now, performing strongly in multiple states and winning in Oklahoma, Colorado, Minnesota and his home state of Vermont.