Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton threw up a roadblock on Sen. Barack Obama's path to the Democratic presidential nomination by winning the giant Ohio and Texas primaries, NBC News projected Wednesday morning. “For everyone here in Ohio and across America who's been counted out and refused to be knocked out, and for everyone who has stumbled but stood right back up, and for everyone who works hard and never gives up, this one is for you,” Clinton said at a raucous rally in Columbus on a night when she took both of the two major prizes on offer. Clinton, D-N.Y., and Obama, D-Ill., split the smaller Rhode Island and Vermont primaries, according to NBC News . Delegates to the Democratic National Convention are awarded proportionally, and those numbers will not be available until all returns are in. Going into Tuesday's balloting, Obama led Clinton by 1,194-1,037, according to NBC News' count. Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain of Arizona wrapped up the Republican nomination after he won all four contests, NBC News projected. His only remaining serious rival, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, withdrew from the race Tuesday night. In all, there were 370 Democratic delegates at stake Tuesday night, most of them in Ohio and Texas, where Clinton had banked on stemming Obama's momentum. Final polls going into Tuesday's voting showed that Obama had closed the margin significantly, but in the end, Clinton prevailed. “Tonight, we won three out of four contests and began a new chapter in this historic campaign,” Clinton said in a statement Wednesday morning. Surveys of voters as they left their polling places indicated that Clinton held onto her robust support from groups that have been the foundation of her candidacy. In Texas, the two candidates did best in parts of the state where they spent the most time campaigning - Clinton in South Texas and Obama in major metropolitan areas, especially Austin, the capital and the state's most liberal city. And they did well among their core constituencies. Clinton ran especially strong among Latinos, whom she had counted on in a state where she and former President Bill Clinton have political ties dating to the early 1970s. Exit polls indicated that she was winning two-thirds of the Latino vote. Likewise, Obama won by strong margins among black voters, with a nearly 6-to-1 edge. The difference may have been in the demographics: African-Americans accounted for 20 percent of the Democratic primary voters, but Latinos made up more than 30 percent. “I think tonight's going to be a huge night,” said Terry McAuliffe, Clinton's campaign chairman. But Obama sounded a confident note Tuesday night, telling cheering supporters in San Antonio that the race was still a toss-up. “No matter what happens tonight, we have nearly the same delegate lead as we did this morning, and we are on our way to winning this nomination,” he said.
