Even as the frenzy of the U.S. presidential primaries seems to be slowing down, the fight for the Republican and Democratic nominations continues to escalate.
Democratic front-runner, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, was delivered a bruising by rival Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders Saturday when he swept caucuses in Washington, Hawaii and Alaska.
Those victories do not close the seemingly insurmountable lead Clinton has in the race - just under 300 pledged delegates. But they boosted the campaign momentum enough for Sanders to declare that he can now see a "path toward victory."
Democrats compete next on April 5 in Wisconsin and again April 9 in the sparsely populated state of Wyoming. Clinton is focusing on April 19 when voters in New York, the state she once represented as a senator, decide how to allocate their 291 delegates.
On the Republican side, the nomination fight between front-runner and billionaire businessman Donald Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz appears to have escalated into a full-fledged war of personal barbs.
The next major Republican primary is April 5 in Wisconsin. Some analysts predict that it may become the last stand for the third Republican candidate, Ohio Governor John Kasich.
The Republican chase for delegates will next focus on the the upcoming primaries in the northeast.
New York votes April 19, followed by Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Rhode Island on April 26.
A candidate needs to win 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination outright. Otherwise there could be multiple voting rounds by convention delegates to determine a winner.
William Gallo in Washington contributed to this report.
