Super Tuesday stories
* Cruz edges Trump in Alaska GOP contest* Sohn: The endless election season lurches ahead * Cooper: GOP digging hole for itself * Voices of voters as they cast ballots on Super Tuesday * Exit poll: Clinton expands base, Trump sells outsider image * Viewer’s Guide: After Super Tuesday, cold hard delegate math * AP News Guide: Decision night, Super Tuesday * Trump claims 7 GOP victories, extending dominance * Clinton solidifies lead with wins in seven states * Trump and Clinton claim big Super Tuesday victories in South* Sanders wins in Colorado, Minnesota; Rubio gets first victory * Cruz, Clinton win in Texas primary; Sanders wins Oklahoma
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Donald Trump won most every way he could in Alabama’s Republican presidential primary, and Hillary Clinton was just as dominant among Democrats, according to exit polls conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks.
A billionaire businessman and reality TV star from New York, Trump didn’t have any trouble connecting with Alabama voters, running strongly among four other candidates regardless of the age, education, income, ideology and religion of the state’s voters, the data showed.
Clinton fared particularly well among black voters, but the state’s white voters also favored her over Bernie Sanders.
A closer look at the exit poll results from Alabama:
BROAD SUPPORT FOR TRUMP
Trump was the top choice among both young and older voters, with nearly 4 in 10 voters ages 18-44 supporting him and nearly 5 in 10 voters ages 45-plus backing him. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio did better among younger voters than older, with 1 in 5 voters age 18-44 opting for him.
Voters with less than a four-year college degree supported Trump the strongest, with 5 in 10 voting for him, and the exit poll showed 4 in 10 college graduates favored him, more than any other candidate. But Rubio did the best among voters with a graduate degree, receiving the support of 3 in 10.
More than 4 in 10 voters supported Trump regardless of income level, the exit poll showed, and more than 8 in 10 voters who want a president who “tells it like it is” supported Trump. Voters who consider themselves moderate or conservative sided with the businessman in roughly equal numbers.
EVANGELICALS BACK TRUMP
Born-again Christians were as likely to support Trump as other voters.
About three-quarters of Republican voters described themselves as born-again or evangelical Christians, and more than 4 in 10 of them supported Trump, who received roughly the same level of support from people who said they weren’t born-again or evangelical.
While Texas Sen. Ted Cruz highlighted his Christian faith partly in an appeal to faith-driven voters, he and Rubio ran about the same among such people.
BLACKS SUPPORT CLINTON OVERWHELMINGLY
Clinton’s minority firewall held against Sen. Bernie Sanders.
More than 9 in 10 black Democrats supported Clinton, who made three campaign stops in Alabama aimed at courting minority voters and also sent former President Bill Clinton to the state to campaign on her behalf at a historically black college the weekend before the primary.
Sanders ran best among white voters, with 4 in 10 supporting him, but Clinton still received a majority of the white vote.
Eight in 10 voters age 45 or older supported Clinton. The former secretary of state also was favored by 7 in 10 younger voters, preventing Sanders from gaining traction with the youthful voters who have propelled his campaign elsewhere. Gender wasn’t a major factor, with the exit poll showing support for Clinton about the same among men and women.
DEMOCRATS HAPPIER WITH GOVERNMENT THAN REPUBLICANS
After seven years with President Barack Obama in the White House, Democrats are happier than Republicans with the federal government. But voters from either party aren’t particularly happy with the way things are going in Washington.
While 6 in 10 Democrats said they were dissatisfied or angry about the way the federal government is working, 4 in 10 said they were enthusiastic or satisfied. More than 8 in 10 Republicans were dissatisfied or angry, the poll showed, and only about 1 in 10 said they were satisfied.
Trump corralled the largest share of voters who were angry with government, with more than half voting for him. Rubio and Cruz split the remainder, just as they did voters looking for the best person to handle Supreme Court nominations.