Massachusetts Senator John Kerry handily won primary and caucuses held Tuesday in Utah Hawaii and Idaho, leaving North Carolina Senator John Edwards a distant second and reaffirming his front-runner status to become the Democratic candidate in the November 2 presidential election.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting in Utah, Kerry had won 55 percent of the primary vote against 30 percent for Edwards. With 100 percent of precincts reporting in the Idaho caucuses, Kerry beat Edwards by 54-22 percent.
And with 99 percent of precincts reporting in Hawaii's caucuses, Kerry won 46 percent of the vote, against 13 percent for Edwards - House of Representatives member for Ohio Dennis Kucinich came in second with 30 percent of the vote.
Tuesday's votes added only a handful of delegates - Utah 23, Hawaii 20 and Idaho 18 - for the Democratic national convention in late July that will decide who will run against incumbent US President George W. Bush.
All attention is fixed on the next primary stop, the "Super Tuesday" contest on March 2, when 10 states, including delegate-rich California and New York, will vote.
On that occasion more than half the 2,162 delegates needed for a candidate to clinch the Democratic nomination will be up for grabs.