Barack Obama narrowed rival Hillary Clinton’s lead Saturday, winning by substantial margins in a three-state sweep.

Obama claimed victory in Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington on Saturday, as well as in the Virgin Islands.

“The stakes are too high and the challenges are too great to play the same old Washington game with the same old Washington players and expect a different result,” Obama told a hugely pro-Obama crowd of Democrats at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Richmond, Virginia.

“People want to turn the page. They want to write a new chapter in American history.”

Clinton has 1,083 delegates and Obama has 1,009, according to CNN calculations.

On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee upset front-runner John McCain in Saturday’s Republican contests.

The former Arkansas governor beat McCain in Kansas by nearly a 3-1 margin.

Huckabee also was leading in Louisiana.

In Washington state, the Republican caucuses were too close to call.

Huckabee’s Saturday wins show that Republicans are necessarily following in line behind McCain, the Arizona senator and presumptive nominee. See state-by-state results

“People across America are gravitating toward our campaign and realizing that there is still a choice. And that’s what we’ve said all along, that this race is far from being over,” Huckabee said after the first results came in. Video Watch what Huckabee says about the results »

Obama and Huckabee have done well in caucus states like Iowa, where grass-roots efforts are more likely to have greater influence.

Obama also picked up a boost in Washington with the endorsement of the state’s governor, Christine Gregoire.

Saturday’s races marked the first contests without former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who suspended his campaign Thursday.

But Huckabee faces a daunting challenge. McCain has a significant lead in the delegate count after Super Tuesday. Huckabee has 217 delegates to McCain’s 714, according to CNN calculations.
Source: CNN News