Hillary Rodham Clinton's past support of the North American Free Trade Agreement didn't hurt her in Ohio where most voters think trade with other countries has cost the state jobs.
Blue-collar workers and voters who live in union households backed Clinton as did voters in northern Ohio where manufacturing job losses have been staggering the past decade, according to exit polls for The Associated Press and television networks.
Clinton won nearly six in 10 votes from union households in Ohio's Democratic primary Tuesday and the same number among people who earn less than $50,000 a year.
At the same time, she maintained her strong connection with women and older voters to win her biggest primary victory in more than a month following 12 consecutive losses to Barack Obama.
Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, visited every corner of the state over the last two weeks, questioning Obama's experience and his ability to step in as commander in chief. She also raised doubts about whether he was committed to reworking NAFTA.
Obama had targeted voters in the state's northern industrial cities, betting that he could exploit Clinton's backing of the trade agreement years ago.
Instead, she won handily in northeast Ohio, had a slight edge in Cleveland, and split the vote in Toledo and its surrounding counties.
Clinton also won in central Ohio and the southwest corner.
Her plans for bringing jobs to the state resonated with voters concerned about the economy, which was by far the biggest issue for Democratic voters.
Six in 10 said it was the most important issue facing the country, more than in any of the other 25 Democratic primaries with exit polls this year. And nearly six in 10 backed Clinton.
She also won a majority of the vote among those who say trade has hurt the state.
Eight in 10 said trade takes more jobs from Ohio than it creates. And about the same number said they were worried about their families' economic future more than those in three other primary states on Tuesday.
Voters in Ohio's GOP primary were nearly as concerned as Democrats with the nation's economy, with seven in 10 saying it was poor or not good.
Obama did best among blacks who also turned out proportionately greater numbers than in past Ohio primaries. He got backing from nine in 10 blacks and half of college graduates.
Blacks accounted for about one in five voters this year compared with one in seven in the state's Democratic primary four years ago.
Clinton and Obama split among independents, a group the Illinois senator had solidly won in recent primaries.
Obama's message of hope and change hit home with young voters who preferred him over Clinton while she did better among older voters. Two in three voters under age 30 were backing Obama. But they were outnumbered 3-to-1 by those over age 65.
Women were a big factor for Clinton.
She had lost ground to Obama with white women and lower income voters just two weeks ago in the Wisconsin primary where she lost big. But in Ohio, two in three white women backed Clinton.
She also edged out Obama among white men, another group that deserted her in Wisconsin.
Obama's edge in Ohio's big cities was solid but not as overwhelming as Clinton's margin in rural areas. She also won handily in suburbs around the state, which accounted for six in 10 of all the votes.
Among voters in the state's Republican primary, Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain saw his strongest support come from older voters, Catholics, wealthy voters and moderates.
McCain won the state with broad support from voters in all age groups and income levels.
He ran about even with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee among those who call themselves very conservative, and trailing slightly among white born-again or evangelical Christians.
Results were from interviews of 1,612 Democratic primary voters and 777 Republican primary voters conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International in 40 precincts across Ohio on Tuesday. Margin of sampling error plus or minus 5 percentage points for the Democratic primary and plus or minus 6 percentage points for the Republican primary.Associated Press
