( dpa ) - Senator Barack Obama won the Vermont primary, CNN and Fox television projections showed, capturing the first of four states up for grabs in balloting Tuesday to determine the Democratic presidential nominee.
On the Republican side, Senator John McCain, 71, captured Vermont, further tightening his grip on his party's nomination for the November 4 presidential election.
Obama, 46, defeated Senator Hillary Clinton, 60, in Vermont and and the campaigns for the highly contested Democratic race were awaiting the results in Rhode Island, Texas and Ohio.
Polls show Clinton and Obama in tight races in Texas and Ohio, the two most important states in Tuesday's elections. Obama has emerged as the clear Democratic frontrunner, and defeats for Clinton in Texas and Ohio would leave the former first lady with perhaps an insurmountable deficit.