WASHINGTON – Democratic candidate Barack Obama has been elected the first African-American president of the United States.
As polls closed at 11 pm Eastern Time, Obama won all of the states that voted Democratic four years ago. But he also won a number of key states that had supported President Bush, including Virginia, Ohio, Iowa, and New Mexico.
The loss of Ohio was a crushing blow to Republican John McCain, whose campaign worked hard for the state’s 20 electoral votes. No Republican has ever been elected president without winning Ohio.
Obama’s ambitious strategy to reshape the electoral map paid off with strong showings in a number of states, including some that have not voted Republican in decades. He also captured voters across income and education levels, age group and race. Obama trailed McCain among the white vote, though he did better among this group than did John Kerry four years ago.
The dramatic economic downturn in the last weeks of the campaign played to Obama’s advantage. Exit polls Tuesday showed the economy was the main issue on voters’ minds. Two-thirds of voters leaving the polls said they were worried or very worried that the financial crisis will affect their families.
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