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— Highlights of exit poll data in the Maryland and Virginia presidential primaries Tuesday. All numbers final:
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FAITH-BASED VOTING
Mike Huckabee benefited from a strong turnout of born-again evangelical Christians in Virginia's primary. Thirty-seven percent of Virginia Republican voters were born-again evangelical Christians. They voted 63 percent for Huckabee and just 28 percent for John McCain. In Maryland, there were fewer evangelical voters and they supported Huckabee over McCain by a somewhat smaller margin.
Among Republicans, Huckabee won the votes of 64 percent of Virginians and half of Marylanders who said they were looking for a candidate who shared their values.
WHO'S CONSERVATIVE ENOUGH?
Sixty-five percent of voters in Virginia's Republican primary called themselves conservatives. Mike Huckabee won half of their votes, including two-thirds of those who called themselves "very conservative." In Maryland, conservatives were a similar share of the voters, but McCain did better than Huckabee among them, 44 percent to 36 percent. Mitt Romney, who has suspended his campaign, got 9 percent of conservatives in Maryland, Ron Paul, 7 percent.
McCain won the votes of 70 percent of moderates in Virginia and 74 percent in Maryland. McCain won about half of those who called themselves "somewhat conservative" in both states.
Forty-nine percent of Republican voters in Virginia said McCain's policies were not conservative enough; 41 percent said that in Maryland.
THE RUSH LIMBAUGH EFFECT
Republican voters in Virginia who said they frequently listened to conservative talk radio voted 51 percent for Huckabee, while non-listeners voted 57 percent for McCain. But in Maryland, frequent listeners still supported McCain over Huckabee, 49 percent to 28 percent. In both states, the more often people listened to conservative talk radio, the less likely they were to vote for McCain.
RACE AND GENDER
In the Democratic primaries in both states, Barack Obama won both men and women. In Virginia, he got 68 percent of men and 60 percent of women, while in Maryland he got 62 percent of men and 55 percent of women. In Virginia, Obama even won among white men, getting 58 percent of their votes while Hillary Rodham Clinton took her base, white women, by an unusually small margin. In Virginia she got 53 percent to Obama's 47 percent among white women. But in Maryland, Clinton won overall among whites, winning by a wide margin among white women but only tying Obama among white men.
Obama's narrow win among whites in Virginia marked one of his best showings yet among white voters and was the first time he has beat Clinton among whites in a Southern state. Obama won the votes of 90 percent of blacks in Virginia and 84 percent in Maryland.
THE YOUTH VOTE
Obama won the votes of 76 percent of Virginia Democrats under age 30 and 64 percent in Maryland. In both states, he did better than Clinton in nearly every age group, although Clinton had stronger support among older voters. The two candidates were about even among senior citizens in Maryland, but Obama won among seniors in Virginia. In Virginia, Obama won the votes of 61 percent of white voters under age 50, while Clinton won 56 percent of white voters over age 50. In Maryland, Obama and Clinton each won just less than half of whites under 50 and Clinton won 55 percent of whites over 50.
READY TO MAKE HISTORY
As they helped decide whether their party will nominate the first woman or first black for president, more than eight in 10 voters in the Maryland and Virginia Democratic primaries said the country is ready to elect a black or female president.
Democratic voters in Virginia were a little more likely than their counterparts in Maryland to say the country "definitely" was ready for a black or female president, rather than just "probably" ready. Those few Virginia Democrats who said the country wasn't ready for a black president voted 63 percent for Clinton, 58 percent in Maryland. Those who said the country wasn't ready for a female president voted 81 percent for Obama in Virginia, 64 percent in Maryland.
Blacks in Virginia were a little less likely than whites there to say the country is ready to elect a female president.
THE ECONOMY
Voters in both parties in both states most often picked the economy as the most important issue facing the country. Democrats and Republicans had very different views about the condition of the national economy. More than four in 10 Republicans in Virginia and Maryland said the economy was still in good shape, while nine in 10 Democrats in both states said the economy was in bad shape.
In Virginia, McCain won among those most concerned about the economy, the war in Iraq and terrorism. Huckabee won among those voters most concerned about illegal immigration. Among Democrats in both states, Obama easily bested Clinton among voters most concerned about the economy and the war in Iraq while in Maryland, he nearly tied with Clinton among those most concerned health care. In Maryland, McCain won voters most concerned about all four issues, although his worst showing was among those most concerned about illegal immigration.
FIRST-TIME VOTERS
Thirty-seven percent of voters in the Virginia Democratic primary said they had not voted in a primary before, as did almost one in five voters in the Maryland Democratic primary. In Virginia, first-time voters supported Obama over Clinton in similar proportions to experienced voters.
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From interviews conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International in 30 precincts each in Maryland and Virginia for The Associated Press and television networks. Includes partial results from Maryland, margin of error for Democrats plus or minus 4 percentage points; for Republicans plus or minus 6. Includes final results from Virginia, margin of error for Democrats plus or minus 4; for Republicans, plus or minus 5.
