Economy Is Top Issue In Md., Va.

Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) defeated Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) on top issues and dominated among Democratic voters seeking a change-oriented candidate, lifting him to big victories in Maryland and Virginia, network exit polls showed.

Among Republicans, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee used a broad advantage among evangelical Christians and strong support from the most conservative Republicans and those placing high importance on "values" to challenge Arizona Sen. John McCain in Virginia and get the backing of about three in 10 Marylanders. But McCain carried the day in both states with commanding wins among less conservative voters and those focused on experience and national security concerns.

In both states, the nation's souring economy was the top issue among all voters, according to the exit polls. On candidate qualities, "values" topped the list for GOP voters in Maryland and Virginia.

Democratic voters across the region were most interested in a change-oriented leader, and more than eight in 10 of those seeking change cast ballots for Obama. He has won those voters in every state that has had a Democratic exit poll except Arkansas, where Clinton was first lady for a decade.

Clinton had a wide advantage among those looking for a steady hand, but "change voters" outnumbered "experience voters" by more than 2 to 1 in Maryland and Virginia. Obama topped Clinton among voters in both states who called the economy, health care or Iraq the nation's biggest concern. No exit polls were conducted in the District.

Huckabee kept it close in Virginia by excelling among conservatives, particularly the "very conservative." But McCain trounced him among moderates and liberals and held a double-digit edge among those viewing themselves as "somewhat conservative."

Three-quarters of Republican voters in Maryland and Virginia said they would be satisfied with McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, as the party's standard-bearer. Among "very conservative" voters, about six in 10 said they would be happy with McCain on the ticket.

Race and gender split Democratic voters.

African Americans voted overwhelmingly for Obama, but white voters split more evenly between the two candidates. In most of the states that have had Democratic exit polls, Clinton defeated Obama by wide margins among white voters. About one in 20 voters in both Maryland and Virginia were Latino, and they were divided almost evenly between Clinton and Obama, the polls showed.

Although Obama won by large margins among black men and black women, a big gender gap emerged among whites. Obama won the majority of white men's votes in Virginia and split them evenly with Clinton in Maryland, but Clinton held the edge among white women in both states. In almost every state with an exit poll, Clinton has won the biggest share of white women.

Clinton has also consistently prevailed among older voters, winning senior citizens' support in all but Illinois, Obama's home state. In Virginia, Obama won more than half of the senior citizen vote for the first time, and in Maryland he picked up 47 percent to Clinton's 45 percent of that group.

Most Democrats in both states said they think the country is ready for its first female or black president. And as for a Democratic schism: 57 percent of Clinton supporters in Virginia said they would be satisfied if Obama becomes the party's nominee, and 45 percent of Obama backers said they felt the same way about Clinton. There was no such difference among voters in Maryland.

The exit polls have sampling error margins of four percentage points for Democratic voters and five percentage points for Republicans. Error margins for subgroups are larger.

Staff researcher Madonna Lebling and database editor Sarah Cohen contributed to this report.