Did Donald Trump or Nikki Haley come out on top on Super Tuesday? And other winners and losers.

As voters in 16 states and one territory — American Samoa — made their preferences known for presidential nominees on Super Tuesday, a clear picture of who the Republican nominee would be is coming into stark relief.

But it’s not just the presidential candidates on the ballot. Tuesday also kicked off the first House and Senate primaries of the year as well as closely watched state elections and ballot measures.

Here is a look at the winners and losers of the night.

Nikki Haley’s last stand?

Fresh off her win in Washington, D.C., GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley squared off against former President Donald Trump in more than a dozen contests to clinch the Republican presidential nomination.

The former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. was vanquished by her former boss in all but one of the Super Tuesday states, decisively halting any momentum she might have had. Haley managed to eke out a win in Vermont.

Political observers had long viewed her as a traditional Republican alternative to Trump's MAGA movement, and her rallies around the country have attracted Democratic-leaning independents, traditional Republicans, never-Trumpers, suburban non-MAGA Republican moms, and even some dyed-in-the-wool progressives.

Throughout her campaign, Haley sought to stand apart from Trump, a septuagenarian, and Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden, an octogenarian, calling them “Grumpy Old Men” and questioning their mental sharpness.

Tuesday proved to be the likely death knell for Haley’s campaign.

California’s down-ballot primaries

One of the most closely watched contests in the Golden State is for the Senate seat previously held by Dianne Feinstein, who died in September at age 90. The primary system in the state dictates that the top two vote-getters will end up on the ballot in November, regardless of party affiliation.

The front-runners were House Democrats Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee and one Republican, Steve Garvey, a former baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Schiff used a controversial campaign strategy of highlighting Garvey in ads in hopes that the Republican's second-place win would lead to an easier race than a contest with Porter. Did it pay off? It appears to have. When polls closed, Schiff seemed to be finishing first with Garvey coming in second.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s endorsements

Will Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton be able to exact revenge on those lawmakers who voted to impeach him?

Paxton was impeached with bipartisan approval in May 2023 by the Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives. For months later, the Texas Senate voted to acquit Paxton, ending his suspension from office.

Paxton is targeting House Speaker Dade Phelan, who led the attempt, by endorsing his challenger David Covey along with more than 30 of Phelan’s Republican House colleagues who voted against him on corruption and abuse of office allegations.

The results were not immediately clear. The contest was too close to call.

North Carolina governor’s race

The race to replace Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, who is term-limited is one of the most pivotal races heading into November.

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson emerged as the clear winner of Republican Party's primary in the gubernatorial race.

Over the weekend, Trump described Robinson, who is Black, as “Martin Luther King on steroids,” for his speaking abilities.

Robinson, who has two Republican opponents, is considered the front-runner and will face off Democrat Attorney General Josh Stein, who won his party's primary.

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nikki Haley, Donald Trump and others: Super Tuesday winners and losers