African-Americans overwhelmingly prefer Obama while Latinos largely favour Clinton
THE KEY STATES:
CALIFORNIA
Topped Delegates How they
the poll (%) at stake split*
Dems: Clinton (52) 442 100 to 51
Rep: McCain (42) 173 173 to 0
Clinton and McCain scored decisive victories in California, the largest state in the US, after a heated campaign. Turnout was high.
McCain performed strongly across a wide swathe of the state including areas in the south where strong anti-immigration sentiment appeared likely to blight his chances - he has supported the idea of a path to citizenship which is deeply unpopular with the Republican base. He dominated among voters who were focused on the war and the economy.
Clinton support was widespread across the state and strong among the constituencies who have supported her in other states. Polls showed she won Hispanic votes by a 2-to-1 margin over Obama, and Asians by a 3-to-1 margin. Obama outpolled Clinton among white Democrats and took 8 out of 10 African-American votes, and beat her among voters under the age of 30.
ILLINOIS
Topped Delegates How they
the poll (%) split
Dems: Obama (65) 188 79 to 27
Rep: McCain (47) 70 70 to 0
McCain has won a strong victory over Romney, while in his home state Senator Obama, as expected, had a significant margin over Clinton, even though she grew up in Park Ridge, a northern suburb of Illinois.
Exit polls showed he beat Clinton in practically every category. Whether voters were male or female, old or young, worried about the economy or angry over Iraq, Obama came out ahead. Only among those older than 65 did Clinton carve into his lead. Illinois traditionally holds its primary in mid-March when results in early states have often settled the nominees. This year, state lawmakers moved the primary up to give a boost to Obama.
On the Republican side, John McCain won over Republican voters who have a long track record of favouring moderate candidates.
GEORGIA
Topped Delegates How they
the poll (%) split
Dems: Obama (66) 103 45 to 20
Rep: Huckabee (34) 72 72 to 0
Obama won an overwhelming victory in Georgia with strong support from young and middle-age voters. Meanwhile, Huckabee won a close Republican primary battle.
Obama led Hillary Clinton continually throughout the count, even before key African-American-heavy precincts had been counted. It was Obama's second straight southern triumph, and like an earlier victory in South Carolina, was built on a wave of black and young voters. About 77 per cent of voters ages 18-29, and about 74 per cent ages 30-44 voted for him, according to exit polls. Obama received more than 60 per cent of the vote from both men and women.
The only age group going for Clinton was voters 60 and older, according to the polls. She won among whites, 57 per cent to 39 per cent, while Obama polled 88 per cent of the black vote.
Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister, was aided by a strong vote from Georgians concerned about religious beliefs and born-again or evangelical Christians. Exit polls showed 69 per cent of Republican primary voters in Georgia say they want a candidate who shares their political beliefs. And 64 per cent described themselves as born-again or Evangelical Christians. Huckabee also did particularly well among voters under 30, while McCain and Romney were splitting those over 45.
Of the three candidates, McCain did best among those who expressed negative feelings about the Bush administration, and worse among those who had positive thoughts about the current administration.
MASSACHUSETTS
Topped Delegates How they
the poll (%) split
Dems: Clinton (56) 121 54 to 37
Rep: Romney (51) 43 43 to 0
On a high turnout and despite a string of high-profile endorsements for Obama, Clinton took a surprisingly decisive victory, while Romney held on to his Republican base to comfortably beat McCain, in what the Boston Globe called "the most competitive and meaningful Massachusetts presidential primary in memory".
Obama, who had the support of Governor Deval Patrick and senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, carried Boston by a small margin and did well in liberal, affluent suburbs. But Clinton ran up comfortable margins in other urban areas and other more conservative towns. Women appeared to be a key source of her support, exit polls showing Clinton outperforming Obama among women 57 per cent to 40 per cent. Polls initially had suggested that Clinton had a substantial lead but that margin narrowed significantly, particularly after the highly publicised endorsement by Kennedy.
Romney, who proved to some sceptics that he actually has strong support among local Republicans, far outpaced McCain. The latter had taunted the former Massachusetts governor by making an unusual foray into Romney's home state on the eve of the primary vote.
NEW JERSEY
Topped Delegates How they
the poll (%) split
Dems: Clinton (54) 127 50+ to 37
Rep: McCain (55) 52 52 to 0
In the highest turnout since 1952 voters heavily backed McCain and Clinton. Clinton used heavy support from women and older voters to win the Democratic vote. Exit polls had Obama with heavy support from blacks and younger voters, and Clinton with big backing from white men and women and older voters. She enjoyed a 3-2 edge among Hispanic voters. McCain appears to have received heavy support from every region of the state, getting the strong backing of moderates, voters worried about the economy and those who thought Giuliani's endorsement was important. He did so well that exit polling indicated he even won support from people who oppose him on key issues, including those who oppose the Iraq war and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and those who support abortion rights.
He receives all the Republican Party's 52 New Jersey delegates.
New Jersey had the fourth-most Democratic and the seventh-most Republican delegates up for grabs.
NEW YORK
Topped Delegates How they
the poll (%) split
Dems: Clinton (57) 281 139 to 93
Rep: McCain (51) 101 101 to 0
Clinton swept to victory over Obama across New York state which she represents in the Senate, and McCain easily won the Republican contest. The state's Republican delegates were up for grabs after former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani withdrew from the presidential contest on January 30th and endorsed McCain.
New York delegates represent 14 per cent of those required for a Democratic nomination and 8 per cent of those required for a Republican nomination.
McCain scored more than half the votes, with Romney trailing at 28 per cent, followed by Huckabee and Ron Paul. He vowed yesterday that he would carry New York against either Clinton or Obama in the autumn. Clinton, backed by the state's Democratic leadership, benefited from strong support from union households and Jewish voters - with almost 75 per cent of them backing her, according to exit polls.
Clinton also won 75 per cent of the Latino vote, and 62 per cent of the female vote and beat Obama in every age group except under-30 voters. Of those voters, 58 per cent voted for Obama.
Aside from drawing considerable strength from young voters, Obama won 38 per cent of the white vote, according to exit polls. Out of every five black voters, three favoured Obama.
*Estimates from realclearpolitics.com