Clinton wins Ohio and Texas (+photos)

Hillary Clinton staged a remarkable comeback today to win the Texas and Ohio Democratic primaries.

Clinton's triumphs this evening in the big two states voting today followed a win in Rhode Island earlier, breaking rival Barack Obama's month-long string of victories in the state contests to pick a candidate for the November US election.

The Illinois senator's streak had left Clinton trailing in the number of delegates to the summer convention that will pick the presidential candidate, and analysts said the New York senator needed to win Texas and Ohio to slow his momentum and have a chance of catching him.

The hard-fought Democratic presidential duel moves on to contests in Wyoming and Mississippi and the next major showdown in Pennsylvania on April 22, with Clinton still trailing Obama in the pledged delegates who will choose the nominee at the August convention.

"We're going on, we're going strong, and we're going all the way," Clinton, 60, told roaring supporters in Columbus, Ohio. "We're just getting started."

Exit polls showed Clinton won big among voters who decided in the last few days, when she questioned Obama's readiness to be commander in chief and the sincerity of his pledges to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, which is blamed in Ohio for manufacturing job losses.

Under Democratic rules allowing the losers in each state to win a proportional amount of delegates, Clinton must win many of the remaining contests by big margins to close the delegate gap behind Obama.

John McCain secured the Republican nomination earlier in the day.

LATEST UPDATES:
8.08pm: A separate caucus continues in Texas and Obama is faring better than in the primary, the BBC says.

7.54pm: The updated delegate count is Obama - 1466, Clinton - 1376, according to the Houston Chronicle.

7.13pm: Clinton projected to win Texas.

6.53pm: Both candidates are standing firm in their belief they will win the nomination:

Obama: "No matter what happens tonight, we have nearly the same delegate lead as we did this morning, and we are on our way to winning this nomination."

Clinton: "We're going strong. And we're going all the way!"

6.51pm: Clinton's lead in Texas remain 3%, with almost three-quarters of the votes now counted.

6.03pm: The Houston Chronicle describes Clinton's Ohio win as "ending a near politically fatal losing streak". It reports Obama saying he expects the race to continue on to Pennsylvania on April 22.

5.17pm: Clinton speaks to supporters in Columbus, Ohio. "Boy, thank you, Ohio," she says as the main networks project her winning the crucial delgate-rich state of Ohio.