The Republican race for the Presidential nomination remained wide open with former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney getting the better of Arizona Senator John McCain in the Michigan primary.

With about 80 per cent of the precincts reporting, Romney, who earlier lost the Iowa and New Hampshire votes, had 39 per cent of ballots in his his native state, McCain 30 per cent and Mike Huckabee 16 per cent.

The Democratic Party is not recognising the result of the primary, swept by Hillary Clinton, after a dispute over scheduling of the vote with the state party.

With her main rivals Illinois Senator Barack Obama and former Senator John Edwards pulling out of the race after the state broke party rules by moving up the primary date, the new York senator gathered at least 62 per cent of the vote followed by the 'uncommitted' and Ohio Congressman Dennis Kuchinich at 4 per cent.

Clinton's rival campaigns had urged supporters to vote 'uncommitted' to prevent Clinton from making a clean sweep.

With three winners in as many primaries, there appeared to be no clear favorites among republicans. Iowa winner Huckabee made it clear that he was still looking to wrest the race with the upcoming South Carolina primary. And with New Hampshire in his kitty, McCain admitted that he had thought the campaign 'might be getting easier' but added that he did not mind 'a fight.'

Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani came at a poor fifth place, behind Texas Congressman Ron Paul and former Senator Fred Thompson.

Born and raised in Michigan, Romney, whose father was a governor of the state, played up his image as a manager and one who could salvage the state's economy, which is reeling with more than 7.4 per cent unemployment.

If McCain's pitch had been to look beyond the jobs that have been lost, Romney's message was one of getting them back, a theme that seemed to resonate at America's Automobile State that has seen its preeminence in the industry fade away to the Japanese.

"Tonight marks the beginning of a comeback, a comeback for America," Romney said after the victory, sounding similar to his party rival McCain after his surprise win.

The Republicans and Democrats now move to more serious fields with the Grand Old Party having its primary and caucuses in South Carolina and Nevada on January 19.

The Democrats hold their critical primary in South Carolina on January 26.

The bottom line for both the Democrats and the Grand Old Party will be on February 5 which has been billed Super Duper Tuesday or Tsunami [Images] Tuesday when as many as 24 states, including the big ones like California, New York and Ohio will be having their primaries and caucuses.

The presidential elections will be held in November.