Democrat Senator Barack Obama beat rival Senator Hillary Clinton in Wyoming's nominating contest on Saturday, bouncing back from a string of losses that gave Clinton new life in their hotly contested presidential battle.
Obama's victory in the nominating caucus in sparsely populated Wyoming slowed Clinton's momentum after she won three of four contests on Tuesday in their tight duel for the right to face Republican Senator John McCain in November's presidential election.
Obama won 61 percent, or 5,378 votes, Saturday to Clinton's 38 percent, or 3,312 votes, with all 23 Wyoming counties reporting. Obama, who already has a lead in the overall race for delegates at the nominating convention, won seven delegates on Saturday and Clinton won five.
"This is a very important win for us," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said in a conference call with reporters.
He said Clinton, former US president Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea all campaigned in the state.
Heavily Republican Wyoming has just 12 delegates to the August convention that will pick the Democratic nominee -- one of the smallest hauls in the race -- but every state has become crucial in the prolonged battle between the two senators.
NEXT BATTLE
Both Obama and Clinton campaigned in Wyoming on Friday, but the two candidates took the day off at home on Saturday. Next up is a primary in Mississippi tomorrow before Obama and Clinton square off in Pennsylvania on April 22.
The win allowed Obama to add slightly to his almost insurmountable lead in the pledged delegates who will help decide the nominee. The exact breakdown of delegates in Wyoming was not immediately clear.
Neither Obama nor Clinton is likely to reach the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the nomination without help from 796 "superdelegates" -- party officials and insiders free to back any candidate.
The states of Michigan and Florida, which were stripped of their delegates in a dispute with the national party and held unsanctioned contests, also could figure in a final resolution to the tight race.
Officials in both states have discussed redoing their contests so they would produce delegates to the convention, but the candidates, the state parties and national party would have to agree on the timing, funding and formats.
The Wyoming caucus requires voters to turn up at public sites at specific times. Democrats in heavily Republican Wyoming crowded the 23 caucus sites around the state.
Obama has been particularly successful in caucuses, where his organizational strength and grassroots enthusiasm have given him an advantage.
Clinton has complained about the caucus system and said she performs better in primary elections in big states such as Ohio, California and New Jersey that Democrats will have to win to capture the White House.
Obama has generally outperformed Clinton in caucuses, which reward organization and voter passion more than do primaries. The Illinois senator has now won 13 caucuses to Clinton's three.
Her campaign also holds out little hope for tomorrow's primary in Mississippi. The Southern state has a large black population, who have largely supported Obama in his bid to become the first black US president.
In the overall race for the nomination, Obama led 1,578 to 1,468, the latest Associated Press tally. It will take 2,025 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.
ILLINOIS
Meanwhile, a Democrat captured on Saturday an Illinois US House of Representatives seat that had been a Republican stronghold, in a symbolic blow to US President George W. Bush's party ahead of November elections.
Returns showed physicist and businessman Bill Foster beating dairy owner Jim Oberweis by 52 percent to 48 percent of the vote in the district that had been held by former House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert for more than two decades.
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