DEMOCRAT Barack Obama defeated Republican rival John McCain in the Ohio presidential vote tonight, carrying a key battleground state that has backed the winning White House candidate since 1964, Fox News projected.
Most opinion polls before the election showed Obama with a narrow lead in Ohio, but the state, which provided a critical win for President George W. Bush in 2004, was considered a tossup. No Republican has won the White House without carrying Ohio.
The victory gave Obama all of Ohio's 20 electoral votes, providing a big boost toward the 270 needed to win the presidency in the United States' indirect system of choosing a leader.
Latest Electoral College votes:MCCAIN: 109
OBAMA: 200
States where McCain is projected to have won: KANSAS 6
TEXAS 34
GEORGIA 15
ALABAMA 9
ARKANSAS 6
KENTUCKY 8
WEST VIRGINIA 5
SOUTH CAROLINA 8
OKLAHOMA 7
TENNESSEE 11
States where Obama is projected to have won: OHIO 20
NEW YORK 31
NEW MEXICO 5
RHODE ISLAND 4
MICHIGAN 17
MINNESOTA 10
WISCONSIN 10
CONNECTICUT 7
DELAWARE 3
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 3
ILLINOIS 21
MAINE* 4
MARYLAND 10
MASSACHUSETTS 12
NEW HAMPSHIRE 4
NEW JERSEY 15
PENNSYLVANIA 21
VERMONT 3
The full article contains 205 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
