Up or down? Runners in White House race

It's not over yet for Mike Huckabee

The races for the Democratic and Republican party presidential nominations are still wide open after the Nevada caucuses and the South Carolina primary.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are neck and neck.

On the Republican side, four candidates have a good chance of victory in the crucial Florida primary on 29 January.

DEMOCRATS

Hillary Clinton has now won the last two Democratic nomination contests, the New Hampshire primary and the Nevada caucuses. In Nevada she did well among Hispanic voters, the country's largest minority group, which could prove key to the primary in the largest US state, California.

NEVADA RESULTS Hillary Clinton: 51% Barack Obama: 45% John Edwards: 4%

Barack Obama came second to Hillary Clinton in Nevada, but won more delegates, partly because he did better in the large rural areas of the state. He also has a chance to bounce back in South Carolina, a state with a large black population, on 26 January.

John Edwards campaigned hard in Nevada, and came away with only 4% of the vote, and no delegates. This is a serious blow, and further weakens his declining prospects.

Election polltracker

REPUBLICANS

John McCain's victory in South Carolina, his second so far, gives him momentum going into the hotly-contested Florida primary. He's also ahead of the pack in national polls. But he still needs to overcome the scepticism of the conservative base of the Republican party.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS John McCain: 33% Mike Huckabee: 30% Fred Thompson: 16% Mitt Romney: 15% Ron Paul: 4% Rudy Giuliani: 2%

Mitt Romney has now won three nomination contests - in Wyoming, Michigan and Nevada - as well as coming second in two others (Iowa and New Hampshire), so he is ahead in the race for delegates. But other leading Republicans largely ignored Wyoming and Nevada, and Michigan is the state where he was born. The struggle now gets much harder for him.

Mike Huckabee, a southerner and former Baptist preacher, needed quite badly to win South Carolina, a state with a large evangelical population, and the first southern state to hold its primary. He didn't, and exit polls suggest he only attracted 40% of the evangelical vote there. It is possible that his victory in Iowa, the opening event in the nomination race, could be the high point of his campaign.

NEVADA RESULTS Mitt Romney: 51% Ron Paul: 14% John McCain: 13% Mike Huckabee: 8% Rudy Giuliani: 4% Duncan Hunter: 2%

Rudy Giuliani's strategy has been to sit out the first primaries and concentrate on Florida. His lead in national polls has meanwhile ebbed away. But he still could win in Florida, and that would provide a good launch pad for Super Tuesday - 5 February - when 22 states hold primaries or caucuses. As a hawk on matters of security and defence, and a moderate on social policy, he will be competing head-on in Florida with John McCain.

Fred Thompson's strategy was to focus nearly all his efforts on South Carolina - and it failed. He hinted before the vote that a poor result could signal the end of his run for the nomination. Later, as it became clear he would not win, he gave a speech described by AP as "a bit like a swansong". But he stopped short of dropping out. If he does, his endorsement could be invaluable to one of the other candidates.

Ron Paul, the maverick libertarian, came second in Nevada after Mitt Romney, picking up four delegates. He has been placed among the top five in every primary and caucus. But he is still not a serious contender for the Republican nomination.

Duncan Hunter dropped out of the race after his poor showing in Nevada, even before the South Carolina result came through.