Key states still counting

CNN - Projected wins in the presidential election are painting a familiar picture in red and blue states Tuesday as they appear to be mostly sticking with the same party they did in the 2000 election. Incumbent Republican President Bush is projected to take most of the southern and plains states, while Democratic Sen. John Kerry is projected to win much of the Northeastern states as well as Illinois and California in Tuesday's tight race for the White House. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Florida voters on Tuesday backed George W. Bush in the U.S. presidential election, giving the Republican president the fiercely contested swing state in his contest with Democrat John Kerry, the ABC and CBS television networks projected. Both candidates visited the state, which was the epicenter of the 2000 election controversy, repeatedly during the 2004 campaign and flooded it with political advertisements. Florida has 27 votes in the Electoral College, which selects the president based on results in each state. A candidate needs 270 votes to win the White House WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush scored a crucial win in Florida on Tuesday in a cliffhanger race for the White House, leaving Democratic Sen. John Kerry's hopes for victory hanging on a breakthrough in Ohio. Two television networks projected that Bush had captured 27 electoral votes of Florida, the state that put him over the top in 2000 and where his brother Jeb is governor. Kerry won Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes, but so far neither candidate could break through by winning a state taken by the other party in the bitter 2000 race. Kerry needed a win in Ohio to have a realistic shot at victory, and Bush led there by more than 100,000 votes with 67 percent of the precincts reporting. Heavy turnout was reported nationwide and few major voting glitches were recorded in the final act of a presidential campaign marked by deep divisions between Bush and Kerry over the war in Iraq, the fight against terrorism and the economy. Dire predictions of voter challenges and election chaos mostly did not come true in an election where turnout was expected to sail well past the 105 million Americans who voted in 2000. With 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, Bush had captured 25 states with 237 electoral votes to Kerry's 14 states and 199 votes. Among the remaining battleground states still to be decided at midnight EST were Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Nevada, Iowa, New Hampshire and New Mexico. Bush's projected win in Florida gives him a giant boost in his bid for re-election, but several other networks refused to call the state for Bush after their experience in 2000. Early projections for Democrat Al Gore that year wound up being wrong. Voters also were deciding which party holds power in Congress and will vote on governorships in 11 states, with Bush's Republicans favored to retain control of the Senate and House of Representatives. Republicans were considered likely to retain the House and appeared headed to a victory in the Senate. Republicans picked up Senate seats in North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina, and rising Democratic star Barack Obama picked up the Illinois seat in an easy win over former presidential candidate Alan Keyes.

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