Clinton wins Ohio, ties Obama in Texas

Source: Xinhua | 03-05-2008 13:17

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton was projected to win the Ohio and Rhode Island primaries on Tuesday, pulling her campaign back from the dead end.

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary  Clinton (D-NY) speaks at a rally in Dallas, Texas  March 1, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

The New York Senator is also maintaining a slight lead over Illinois Senator Barack Obama in Texas by 50 percent to 49 percent as of 35 percent of precincts accounted.

In Ohio, a "must-win" state to Clinton's campaign, she beat Obama by 58 percent to 40 percent, according to the results from 57 percent of precincts, a much wider lead than the pre-primary polls showed.

Her popularity in the state was solidified by a large amount of blue-collar workers, Catholic, elderly and white women voters, political analysts said.

Rhode Island, demographically similar to Ohio, was also considered Clinton's state.

Texas shows a different picture with a balance between Latinos and African American voters, a key factor to explain the neck-and-neck Democratic presidential race in the state.

The populous states of Ohio and Texas will offer a combination of 334 delegates to Democratic candidates proportionally, the big prize enough to make difference in deciding the party's presidential nominee.

By Tuesday, Obama has accumulated 1,378 delegates with 11 straight victories in the primaries and caucuses in the past one month, leading Clinton by 109 delegates, according to the CNN's statistics.

Analysts said that if Clinton loses both Ohio and Texas, her campaign would approach the end.

Either of them needs to gain 2,025 delegates of the total 4,049to secure the party's presidential candidacy.

Clinton vowed Tuesday to go all the way to the White House after winning the Ohio primaries in a huge boost to her faltering campaign.

"The people of Ohio have said it loudly and clearly, we're going on. We're going strong. And we're going all the way," she said to her supporters.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei