Feb 6, 2008, 2:31 GMT
Washington - Senator Hillary Clinton was projected Tuesday to win the Democratic primary in Massachusetts ahead of Barack Obama, her rival for the party's presidential nomination, television networks reported based on exit polls.
Mitt Romney, a former governor of the state, was the expected winner in the Republican primary.
Massachusetts was a much larger prize for Democrats than it was for Republicans, offering 121 and 43 delegates respectively for the parties' nominating conventions in August and September.
The result will be seen as a setback for Obama, who received the endorsements of the state's two senators: Ted Kennedy, brother of slain former president John F Kennedy, and John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee for president.
Ted Kennedy had been campaigning heavily for Obama in the past week along with Caroline Kennedy, the former president's daughter.
With 25 per cent of precincts reporting, Clinton led by 58 per cent to Obama's 39 per cent. Romney led with 51 per cent ahead of chief rival John McCain, who had 41 per cent. Romney had been expected to win the state, which he governed for eight years.
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