Hillary survives, McCain wins Republican nod

Hillary Clinton has been projected as winner of yesterday's Democratic primaries and caucuses in the key states of Texas and Ohio.

Clinton also won Rhode Island.

Barack Obama, whose 12-state winning streak was shattered on Tuesday, won an easy victory in Vermont.

Before Super Tuesday 2, as yesterday's polls were termed, Clinton's campaign had identified delegate-rich Texas as a "must-win" state for her to remain a viable candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Hillary Clinton's campaign team hosted an emergency conference call shortly before polls closed in Texas, accusing Obama's supporters of "hundreds" of irregularities in the Lonestar State - including locking out Clinton supporters from caucus sites.

The conference call was crashed by Bob Bauer, Obama's attorney, The Washington Post reports.

"I'm curious to know how is this any different than the series of complaints you've registered against every caucus that you lose?" Bauer said.

On the Republican side, John McCain officially declared victory in his bid to secure the party's nomination for U.S. president.

McCain won all four states up for grabs yesterday.

Mike Huckabee, McCain's closest competitor, conceded shortly before McCain surpassed the 1,191 needed to claim the party's presidential nomination.

McCain will travel to the White House today to receive the endorsement of U.S. President George W. Bush this afternoon.

Barack Obama came into last yesterday's primaries with 1,391 delegates, while Hillary Clinton had 1,271 delegates.

The number of delegates needed to win the Democratic presidential nomination is 2,025.

Due to a shortage of Democratic ballots caused by record voter turnout, a judge ordered certain Ohio polls to remain open until 9 p.m.