Texas and New York are the second and third largest states in the electoral college that actually elects the US president and vice-president.
WASHINGTON: US presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama won staunchly Republican Texas and equally strongly Democratic New York, respectively, US media projections showed.
Texas and New York are the second and third largest states in the electoral college that actually elects the US president and vice-president. Texas has 34 electoral college votes and New York 31. The largest state is California which has 55 votes and is expected to back the Democratic candidate.
Obama’s victory in New York, home state of his chief rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Clinton, was widely expected. Pre-election polls had given him a 20 percentage point lead over McCain in the state, which has not backed a Republican since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Likewise, McCain’s victory in President George W Bush’s home state was no surprise. He had a double-digit lead over Obama in pre-election opinion polls, and no Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976 has carried the state.
Obama, meanwhile, was projected to take the 10 electoral votes of Minnesota, a state that has not voted for a Republican candidate since Richard M Nixon in 1972.
Obama was also projected to win the election in Wisconsin, New Mexico, and Michigan. All three are largely Democratic states. Wisconsin, which has 10 electoral votes, last voted Republican in 1984, when Ronald Reagan was running for re-election.
In Michigan, home of the US auto industry, the economic crisis dominated the election campaign. Most polls before the election had shown Obama leading, but until mid-September his lead was narrow and occasional polls showed McCain ahead. Michigan, with 17 electoral votes, last voted Republican in 1988, when George HW Bush became president.
New Mexico, however, was seen as something of a swing state. Though it has often voted Democrat in recent years, it had backed George W Bush when he stood for re-election in 2004. The state has five votes in the electoral college.
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