PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Tiny Rhode Island helped Hillary Rodham Clinton break a monthlong losing streak Tuesday against rival Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential race as she kept alive her hopes of winning the nomination, and it gave John McCain enough delegates to clinch the Republican nomination.
It was a rare moment of presidential relevance for a state with just 21 elected Democratic delegates and four electoral votes that usually is overlooked.
Turnout more than doubled the previous primary record of 13 percent, set in 2000, when 82,000 voters cast ballots, according to the Secretary of State's office. More than 200,000 people voted Tuesday, a turnout of around 30 percent.
Clinton also won the larger primaries in Ohio and Texas, while Obama won Vermont. McCain won in all four states.
Clinton had long been favored to win in Rhode Island, a state where she has visited often. Most of the state's political establishment lined up behind her, including Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Rep. Jim Langevin.
"The Clintons are very well known and very well respected here," Clinton's Rhode Island campaign spokeswoman Christine Heenan said. "They're like old friends to many Rhode Islanders, and that paid off for Sen. Clinton."
An exit poll conducted for The Associated Press showed that roughly 57 percent of voters in the Democratic primary were women, and two-thirds favored Clinton. She picked up critical support from voters 30 and older who made up about 87 percent of Democratic voters.
The state also has a large number of blue-collar voters, and is the most Catholic state in the nation. Those groups continued to support Clinton here.
Obama visited here Saturday and had support from Rep. Patrick Kennedy and former Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee.
His campaign sought Tuesday night to focus attention on the delegate count, where Obama held a lead nationally, according to an AP count before delegates from Tuesday's contests were counted.
"There was no doubt that Sen. Clinton was still going to win some states," said Caleb Weaver, a spokesman for Obama's campaign in Rhode Island. "Tonight is about delegates."
With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton had 58 percent of the vote to Obama's 40 percent. McCain won 65 percent of the vote to Mike Huckabee's 22 percent.
Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans more than three to one in Rhode Island, although more than half of voters are unaffiliated and could vote in either race. The close contest meant many more voters than usual went to the polls.
Susan Lew, 32, of Providence, said she was drawn to Clinton's experience over what she described as Obama's "rock star" persona.
"She's someone who has been in Washington, close to a president for a long time. If anybody knows how to get something done in four years, it would be her," she said.
Meagan Roberts, 31, said she was voting for Obama because he symbolized change and hope. But she said she never thought she'd vote for a man over a woman, if given the choice.
"I've voted in a lot of elections, and I've never found someone who's inspired me as much," said Roberts, who owns a marketing company. "I'm just sick of the Washington insiders."
On the Republican side, Paul Robin, 87, voted for McCain, saying he thought the Arizona senator had the best chance to win in a general election. A fiscal conservative, Robin said he was worried Obama is inexperienced and could raise taxes to fund his social programs.
"Obama's too young to be president," Robin said. "Everything he promises is going to cost a fortune."
With such high voter interest in the primary in Rhode Island, elections officials printed twice as many ballots as usual for a primary, hired additional poll workers and sent extra voting booths to precincts to prevent long waits. At least one polling place, in Johnston, had to call to get extra ballots.
Only minor, sporadic voting problems were reported around the state, such as broken optical scanning machines and voters told to go to the wrong precinct.
Bob Kando, executive director of the state Board of Elections, said Tuesday evening that turnout in some locations beat the turnout in general elections.
"This primary is just, it's fabulous," he said. "We're delighted that the turnout is what it is."
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Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Providence and Ray Henry in Pawtucket contributed to this report.
