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Clinton, Sanders and Trump score early wins on Super Tuesday

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump claimed victories early in the night on Super Tuesday, while Bernie Sanders took his home state of Vermont.
Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) wait for his arrival on stage at the Champlain Valley Exposition March 1, 2016 in Essex Junction, Vt. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty)
Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) wait for his arrival on stage at the Champlain Valley Exposition March 1, 2016 in Essex Junction, Vt. 

Republican front-runner Donald Trump claimed early Super Tuesday wins in Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Virginia and Tennessee, NBC News projects. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton rolled to victories in six states, while Bernie Sanders took his home state of Vermont.

Ted Cruz scored an much needed win his home state of Texas, while the GOP races in Vermont, Oklahoma, and Arkansas remain tight.

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Clinton is projected to win Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas and Arkansas. The race between Sanders and Clinton in Massachusetts and Oklahoma remains too close to call.

As the results began coming in Tuesday, it was clear both Clinton and Trump would add to their already comfortable leads in their respective party's nominating contests. Both have swept most of the Southern states and will maintain their frontrunner status.

Voters in 12 states went to the polls Tuesday, with 595 delegates at stake for Republicans and 1,032 delegates up for grabs for Democrats -- the biggest single-day haul of the primary calendar.

Sanders and the rest of the GOP field have sought to downplay expectations and pick up delegates even if they fail to capture a victory state-wide.

Sanders declared victory in Vermont shortly after polls closed, declaring that "by the end of tonight we are going to win many hundreds of delegates."

Rubio, of Florida, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich have sought to shift the focus to March 15, when each of their home states vote. Each have vowed to remain in the race until then.

This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com.