Philadelphia (Pennsylvania): US Senator Hillary Clinton has claimed victory over her rival, Sen. Barack Obama, in the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, saying she had the better shot at winning in November than he.
"It's a long road to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and it runs right through the heart of Pennsylvania," she told supporters in Philadelphia.
"I'm in this race to fight for you ... You know you can count on me to stand up strong for you every single day in the White House."
Clinton commended Obama and his campaign, saying they are in many ways "on this journey together."
With 75 per cent of precincts reporting, Clinton was leading Obama 54 to 46 per cent at 0300 GMT Wednesday.
The state was considered a must-win for the former first lady, who trails Obama in the overall Democratic race.
The projected victory follows Clinton's wins in other big states, like Ohio, New York and California, and according to her campaign, should revive questions about whether Obama can beat presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in November.
"Hillary has proven that she is the best one to take on John McCain in the fall, because she's winning the states that matter," said Terry McAuliffe, chairman of Clinton's presidential campaign.
Obama said he would continue to lead Clinton in the overall race and described Pennsylvania as "an uphill climb."
"We've won twice as many states, we've won the popular vote by fairly substantial margins, we've got a very big lead in pledged delegates and we competed, win or lose," he said.
Polls closed at 8 p.m. local time (0000 GMT) after what election officials in Pennsylvania's largest cities called a solid but not record-breaking turnout.
Heading into the primary, Clinton led Obama in published polls by nearly 20 points, but Obama closed the gap to have a competitive showing and outspent her by more than 2-to-1 in the process.
The last week of campaigning included a tough debate between Obama and Clinton, who pounded her rival for his recent remark that decades of economic decline had left some rural voters "bitter" and clinging to religion and guns.
CNN exit polls showed nearly a quarter of state voters made their decisions in the past week, and those voters leaned toward Clinton by a margin of 56 per cent to 44 per cent.
Weekly churchgoers made up almost 36 per cent of the electorate, who went to Clinton by a 56-44 margin. More than a third were gun owners, and they preferred Clinton by an almost-identical margin -- 60 per cent to 40 per cent, the polls found.
Exit polls showed Obama appeared to rack up wide margins in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties. Clinton supporters turned out heavily in Pittsburgh and the counties of western Pennsylvania, and she racked up similarly lopsided margins in the state's industrial northeast, exit polls found.
Among the state's black voters, who are heavily concentrated around Philadelphia, Obama racked up margins of more than 90 per cent. The voting bloc comprised about 14 per cent of the vote, while whites made up about 80 per cent and voted 60-40 for Clinton.
Early exits polls indicated Obama scored big with new Democratic voters in the state while Clinton fared better with voters who made up their mind in the final days of campaigning. They also indicated the economy was the number one issue.
Analysts said a big win for Clinton could propel her back into the race. With neither candidate expected to gain a simple majority of delegates before August's Democratic Convention, the nomination could be decided among the party's 800 "superdelegates" -- state governors, members of Congress and party leaders and officials -- among whom Clinton continues to hold influence.
"If Clinton wins by more than 10 points, which was her margin in neighboring Ohio and New Jersey, her campaign will have new momentum and she will soldier on," said Bill Schneider, CNN senior political analyst.
"If Clinton wins by single digits, we're in a political twilight zone. Nothing changes." But if Obama scores an upset, Schneider said, "Clinton will face tremendous pressure to end her campaign rather than damage the party."
Obama played down his chances of a surprise victory despite outspending Clinton by about $7 million to her $2.7 million in the state. His hopes rest on a strong performance in Philadelphia where he is expected to do well among African-American voters, among large numbers of newly registered voters and in the city's wealthier suburbs.
Pennsylvania is also holding a Republican primary, but McCain has already secured the 1,191 delegates needed to win his party's presidential nomination.
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