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When it comes to presidential voting, even a record turnout, Tennessee is just red.

John McCain's victory over Democrat Barack Obama extended the Republican domination to 10 of the past 14 presidential elections with the state's voters.

The only three Democratic winners who won in that span: Lyndon Johnson in 1964, Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. Even Democratic native son Al Gore lost in 2000.

And for the first time since 1960, the state didn't back the presidential winner.

With 98 percent of precincts reporting, McCain had 1,462,550, or 57 percent of the vote, to Obama's 1,063,320, or 42 percent.

Republican U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander cruised to re-election and the GOP won control of both the state Senate and state House of Representatives.

The Democrats retained a 5-4 majority in the U.S. House delegation, with eight incumbents re-elected and Republican Phil Roe winning in northeastern Tennessee.

State election coordinator Brook Thompson said the unofficial turnout of about 2.6 million voters set a presidential election record in Tennessee, exceeding the 2.45 million votes in 2004.

He said the election "went remarkably smoothly."

Thompson said about 60 percent of the votes were cast early.

Exit polls showed that McCain's victory hinged on carrying two out of three independent voters. Independents make up about a third of voters in the state. He also prevailed with voters worried about the economy and those who wanted a candidate who shares their values, the polls showed.

Exit polls showed Obama was strong among urban voters and younger voters as he carried about a half dozen counties.

At Hickory Hill Community Center in southeastern Memphis, 24-year-old Leslie Wooten said she cast her first vote in a presidential race for Obama, partly because he is black.

"That's a big issue for me," she said. "It's like another Martin Luther King moment, a big moment for our race, someone who's gotten all the way. It's the dream thing."

Abraham Doctor, a 27-year-old restaurant manager in Franklin, said he voted for McCain because of his views on the economy and national security.

"My grandparents were successful because of capitalism," he said. "We're entrepreneurs and private business owners, and feel like perpetuating that type of environment is so important to the integrity of our country that everybody's got a shot no matter what."

In Chattanooga, Gary and Susan Patterson waited until the last minute to vote because they hadn't made up their minds. They walked out of the North Chattanooga Recreation Center a few minutes after 8 p.m.

"I could have voted at 7 a.m.," said Gary Patterson, a 62-year-old employee of the Hamilton County highway department. "I was still undecided and I didn't vote for a president. I really didn't like either of them." Susan Patterson voted for McCain.

Marnay Goodlow, a 19-year-old student at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, cast his ballot just before the polls closed. He said he took a close interest in the election this year.

"A lot of times when we were sitting around watching TV, somebody would say, 'Put it on BET,'" said Goodlow, who voted for Obama and high-fived the doorframe on this way out. "I'd tell them to put it on CNN."

Democratic chair: No surprise

Tennessee Democratic Chairman Gray Sasser said McCain's victory was no surprise and Democrats made significant gains.

"I'm really proud that the effort that a lot of Democrats put forth on behalf of Barack Obama," including many who are new to the political process, Sasser said.

"We think there are some long-term dividends," he said.

Mike Fitzgerald, a political analyst at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee, said Obama's challenge with Tennessee voters is to show that he is not a national liberal. Fitzgerald said that starts with the economy.

He compared Obama's challenge to the start of Jimmy Carter's presidency.

"It's got to be first in stabilization of financial markets," Fitzgerald said. "The second thing will be softening what is clearly a recessionary period."

He said Democrats will push some kind of stimulus spending "to prime the pump. The problem is how do you produce the revenue to stimulate the economy without increasing the deficit?"

Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Corker of Chattanooga in a statement congratulated Obama and said he looks forward to working with him and the next Congress and "hope we will put partisanship aside as we try to solve the many challenges facing our country."

Tennessee Republican spokesman Bill Hobbs said Tennessee Republicans will support the new president "when he is right."

"Republicans are not going to give up on their principles, either," he said. "We will continue to fight for what we believe in."



Copyright 2008, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.