(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-02-10 14:03

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama swept Democratic presidential contests in three states on Saturday, striking the latest blows in a bruising back-and-forth battle with Hillary Clinton for the party's nomination.

US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) waves to supporters at the Virginia Democratic Party Jefferson Jackson dinner in Richmond, Virginia February 9, 2008. [Agencies]

Obama cruised to decisive wins in Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington to gain momentum in a deadlocked, state-by-state fight with Clinton where every delegate to the party's summer convention has become crucial.

"Today, the voters from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast to the heart of America stood up to say yes, we can," Obama said at a party dinner in Richmond, Virginia, a state that votes on Tuesday.

"We won in Louisiana, we won in Nebraska, we won in Washington state, we won North, we won South, we won in between, and I believe that we can win Virginia on Tuesday if you're ready to stand for change," the Illinois senator said.

Among Republicans, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee easily won the presidential contest in Kansas, showing signs of life in a nominating race front-runner John McCain has nearly sewed up.

Huckabee and McCain were running close in partial returns in Louisiana and Washington, which also voted on Saturday in the Republican race to choose a candidate in November's presidential election.

Huckabee, whose campaign has been fueled by support from social and religious conservatives, captured about 60 percent of the vote in Kansas, more than double McCain's total.

"This race is far from being over," Huckabee told reporters after crushing McCain in Kansas, just two days after the Arizona senator became the all-but-certain nominee with the withdrawal of his chief rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Huckabee is now the only major opponent for McCain, who has rolled up more than 700 of the 1,191 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination at this summer's convention. Texas Rep. Ron Paul also remains in the race.

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