WASHINGTON (AP) --

John Kerry took his widest lead yet in the race for delegates to win the Democratic presidential nomination, while rival John Edwards closed ground on Howard Dean for second place after strong showings in South Carolina and Missouri, an Associated Press tally shows.

Kerry won five states Tuesday and finished well in the two others holding primaries or caucuses, netting him 144 pledged delegates. That boosted the total delegate count for the Massachusetts senator to 260, the AP survey found.

Only Kerry scored delegates in each of the seven states.

Dean, the one-time front-runner, remains second in the delegate hunt, though Edwards narrowed the gap after gaining a chunk of delegates by winning South Carolina and placing second in Missouri and Oklahoma.

Dean had 121 delegates, gaining only seven pledged delegates from Tuesday's races. The former Vermont governor has yet to win a primary or caucus, though he hopes to end that streak this weekend in caucuses in Michigan, Washington state and Maine.

Michigan's 128 pledged delegates are the largest single-state delegate pot up for grabs until the Super Tuesday" races of March 2, when voters in California, Ohio and New York head to the polls.

According to the AP count, Edwards, the first-term North Carolina senator, has 107 delegates, gaining 66 pledged delegates Tuesday.

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark is fourth in the AP count with 81 delegates, winning 50 pledged delegates thanks to his narrow win in Oklahoma and strong finishes in New Mexico, North Dakota and Arizona.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, who bowed out of the race Tuesday, is next with 25 delegates, though they are all superdelegates" -- elected officials and Democratic insiders who will help choose a nominee at this summer's convention. Lieberman had not won any pledged delegates.

Superdelegates aren't bound to support candidates who finish well in their state's primary or caucuses, and they can change their mind on who to support as often as they want. Though Lieberman has dropped out of the race, the superdelegates who have endorsed him could still back him at the convention in Boston.

Lieberman, himself a superdelegate, has not said whether he will endorse any of his former rivals but has promised to support the eventual nominee. At least three other of his superdelegates have also signaled they are undecided on who to support, but the AP has yet to get in touch with most of his other backers.

Longshot candidate Al Sharpton has six delegates, picking up two pledged delegates on Tuesday -- one each in Delaware and South Carolina.

Another former candidate, Rep. Dick Gephardt, has the support of five superdelegates, though it's unclear whether they still back him because the AP hasn't been able to contact them or they have not returned phone calls seeking comment.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio has two superdelegates and failed to pick up any delegates Tuesday.

One superdelegate, conservative Democratic Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia, has endorsed President Bush. Miller, a first-term lawmaker, has decided not to seek another term.

The AP's delegate tally includes allocations from primaries and caucuses and ongoing interviews with superdelegates. Superdelegate support is included only if someone could be contacted, either personally or through a representative, and they have publicly declared support for a candidate.

The campaigns keep their own tallies. In some cases, their counts include people who have offered support in private, but who have not made public endorsements.