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Hispanics help Clinton win
06/02/2008 10:16 - (SA)
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| Supporters cheer as election returns are announced for Hillary Clinton at a rally in Burbank, California. (Chris Carlson, AP) |
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Juliet Williams
Los Angeles - Hillary Rodham Clinton rode a wave of Hispanic voter turnout to victory and John McCain benefited from voters concerned about the economy and Iraq as the nation's most populous state wielded its influence in the presidential nominating process for the first time in decades.
Clinton had 54% to rival Barack Obama's 37%, with a third of precincts reporting in the Democratic race. McCain had 44% to Romney's 27% among the Republicans.
Exit polls conducted for The Associated Press showed Hispanic voters backed Clinton by a margin of more than 2-1.
Among them was Erendida Vargas, 32, a housekeeper from Los Angeles.
"She is going to be the first woman president," Vargas said. "Everything men do, we can do it, too."
A rich trove of California delegates was at stake - 370 for Democrats and 170 for Republicans - in the state's first-ever midwinter primary. Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders moved the contest from June to February in hopes of playing a greater role in the national races.
Voter registration hit a record for a presidential primary in California, at 15.7 million voters, or about 68.5% of those eligible, and campaigns for all the major candidates pushed hard in California right through Election Day.
Both Democrats and Republicans rated the economy as the most important issue facing the country, with about 90% of Democrats characterising it as not so good or poor; two-thirds of Republicans said the same.
Democrats who rated the economy or health care as most important strongly backed Clinton, while those who cited the war in Iraq as the most pressing issue favored Obama.
In the Republican primary, those who rated the economy as the most important issue went strongly for McCain, along with those who rated the war in Iraq as high. Those who cited illegal immigration favoured Massachusetts Gov Mitt Romney.
Voters who called themselves evangelical Christians split their votes three ways between McCain, Romney and former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee, who drew about 12 percent of the Republican vote in California.
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