Rubio quits US presidential race after Trump crushes him in Florida

John Kasich beats billionaire in Ohio; Democrat Clinton claims three more states to widen gap with Sanders

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Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio speaks during a primary night rally in Miami, where he announced he was suspending his campaign. Photo: AP

Published: 9:00am, 16 Mar 2016Updated: 12:49pm, 16 Mar 2016

US Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump won a crucial nominating contest in Florida and knocked rival Marco Rubio out of the race on Tuesday, but lost Ohio to John Kasich in a mixed result that set the stage for a long contested race.

Trump, a businessman who had hoped for a five-state sweep that would have put him on the path to the nomination, now faces a tough three-way struggle with Kasich, the Ohio governor, and Ted Cruz, the conservative US senator from Texas.

Kasich won all 66 of Ohio’s delegates, giving new hope to establishment Republicans battling to deny the brash New Yorker the nomination and block him from capturing the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination at the party’s July convention.

Marco Rubio hugs his family after announcing he is ending his campaign for the Republican nomination for president. Photo: AP

In Florida, Trump was projected to have won 46 per cent of the vote, compared to second-placed Rubio with 27 per cent.

On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 68, won in Florida, Ohio and North Carolina, putting more distance between herself and rival Bernie Sanders, 74, a US senator from Vermont.