Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama vied for the support of women voters as they faced off for electoral contests on Saturday, after nationwide races this week failed to anoint either candidate as the front-runner for the presidential nomination.

Republicans John McCain and Mike Huckabee hunted for delegates in three state contests on Saturday, keeping a vigorous pace despite the sense that the Republican race is essentially over, with McCain firmly on the road to the nomination.

Clinton and Obama split wins during Tuesday’s series of nomination contests in 22 states, a deadlock that promised to transform this already historic race between a woman and a black man into a fight that will last until the party’s convention in August.

The two Democrats face four contests on Saturday, with the three most important ones —Washington state, Nebraska and Louisiana — offering a total of 161 delegates or about 10 per cent of the total needed to win the party’s nomination.