By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
In their hard-fought duel for the Democratic nomination, Obama won seven states and Clinton six in the early returns. Clinton won Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, Massachusetts, New Jersey and her home state of New York. Obama scored victories in Georgia, Delaware, Alabama, Kansas, North Dakota, Utah and his home state of Illinois.
Huckabee, a Baptist preacher and former Arkansas governor, won in Alabama, Arkansas and West Virginia. Huckabee had aimed for a strong showing in the South with its concentration of evangelical Christians. Romney won in Massachusetts, where he served as governor, and in Utah, where he ran the 2002 winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
The split results, with all the contenders scoring at least one win, were likely to prolong the hard-fought nominating races in both parties. Another series of contests will take place in the coming week in a half-dozen states.
(Writing by David Wiessler; editing by Howard Goller)
