Wisconsin Exit Polls

Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., again overcame skepticism from conservative and evangelical Republicans to win his party's primary in Wisconsin.

On the Democratic side, Barack Obama looked to independents for a boost in his contest against Hillary Clinton.

Story
Wisconsin Primary: McCain Wins and Obama Leads ClintonABC News projected McCain the winner after the 9 p.m. poll closing in Wisconsin.

No winner was immediately projected in the Democratic race, though Obama was ahead; this analysis will be updated with details on Democratic vote preferences later.

Some Democratic results not pertaining directly to vote were intriguing: Although Wisconsin Democrats were least likely to say "electability" was the most important candidate attribute, they also identified Obama, not Clinton, as most likely to win in November.

Clinton also came in for more criticism for negative campaigning.


Preliminary results indicated that just over a quarter of Democratic voters were independents, and nearly one in 10 more were Republicans taking advantage of the open primary rules to vote in the Democratic contest.

Turnout by both groups was about the same as in 2004.


McCain Makes Conservative Progress
On the Republican side, preliminary exit poll results indicated some progress for McCain on the ideological front; he and Mike Huckabee split conservatives evenly, better than usual for McCain; and McCain won four in 10 "very" conservative voters, his best showing in that group to date.

As usual, moderates carried McCain home; he won them by more than 40 points.

Story
The Note: Blue CheeseMcCain's improvement among conservatives, however, did not include evangelicals: Huckabee, a Baptist minister, won them by 20 points in preliminary results.

McCain's support among evangelicals was about average for him; he was helped by the fact that they accounted for far fewer GOP voters, just under four in 10, than in the Southern states Huckabee's won.

There were other examples of McCain's continued challenges in the Republican base.

A substantial minority, more than four in 10, said he's "not conservative enough." Voters by a wide margin were most attracted to a candidate who "shares my values," and Huckabee won them by more than 20 points.


Wisconsin Exit Polls

Wisconsin Exit Polls: A Less Affluent, Less Well-Educated ...

Still voting in Wisconsin, exit polls

Economy Tops Issues In Wisconsin Exit Poll