MIAMI, the United States, March 15 (Xinhua) — New York billionaire developer Donald Trump on Tuesday took a stride towards locking up the 2016 Republican presidential nomination after a crucial victory in the winner-take-all Florida primary, according to local media projection.

Trump's commanding victory in Florida, where he pocketed all 99 delegates up for grab.

Early results with 57 percent of all votes counted showed Trump had already won 45.4 percent.

After losing to Trump in Florida, Senator Marco Rubio announced that he officially dropped out of the race for the nomination of the Republican presidential candidate.

Trump was aiming to win across the board in other four contests, including Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina and Illinois, and a win in Ohio, also a winner-take-all primary with 66 delegates at stake, would all but help Trump to seal the party nomination.

However, early results showed at the moment that Ohio Governor John Kasich was leading the GOP field with a comfortable edge.

Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was projected to win overwhelmingly in Florida and North Carolina Democratic primaries over her rival Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.