Associated Press

Republican John McCain won the presidential contest handily in Louisiana, a state that increasingly has come to resemble other reliably GOP Southern states.

McCain’s win in Louisiana coupled with his national loss to Democrat Barack Obama made Tuesday’s result an anomaly. The last time Louisiana voted for the loser in a presidential race was in 1968 when George Wallace took the state.

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Throughout the campaign, polls showed McCain leading Obama in Louisiana and his victory was expected. Neither campaign viewed Louisiana as a battleground and neither candidate spent time here in the final stretch. Little money was spent on the ground game and advertising by either party.

McCain took 60 percent of the vote to Obama’s 38 percent, with almost all precincts reporting. McCain beat Obama in most parishes throughout the state, often by a 2-to-1 margin. Obama’s support was strong in New Orleans, but he was outpaced in virtually every other parish.

The rest of the field’s imprint on the race was negligible, with the seven other parties on the ballot each receiving less than 1 percent of the vote. There was speculation that Ron Paul, a third-party candidate who was warmly received in Louisiana when he ran in the Republican primary, might do well, but that didn’t happen.

Democrats had hoped that a large black turnout in south Louisiana, especially New Orleans, might give Obama an edge. But analysts said strong black turnout was outpaced by heavy white turnout. And in Louisiana, the contest hinged on racial views, analysts said, with whites going for McCain and blacks for Obama. Louisiana is a majority white state.

Exit polls indicated four in 10 voters considered race a factor.

“Louisiana is just not amenable to a liberal African-American candidate,” said Edward Chervenak, politics professor at the University of New Orleans.

Chervenak said Louisiana was not in play for Obama and it showed.

“I’m not sure how hard he tried (to win),” Chervenak said. “He didn’t spend a lot of time or money down here.”

For Louisiana, the presidential race often seemed distant to the state’s concerns. In the final stretch after the party conventions, the candidates did not discuss hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the state’s long-term problems did not pop up in the debates.

Despite the lack of attention paid to Louisiana, voters were enthusiastic and turned out in record numbers for early voting. The final turnout was expected to meet or exceed previous records.

In predominantly Democratic New Orleans, polling stations were the scene of long lines Tuesday morning and election workers throughout the city said a steady stream of people showed up. By late Tuesday, though, many polls were quiet, perhaps an indication that turnout slowed as the day progressed.

Democratic voters exuded hope and held high expectations for Obama. That upbeat feeling was expressed most strongly by black voters like Kenneth Clark, a 53-year-old painter who cast his ballot in his paint-splattered work clothes Tuesday evening.

“We know one thing: The children behind us will have something to look forward to,” Clark said.

For his whole life, he said, it was unimaginable for black children to think they could become president.

“Instead of being a joke, it can be serious,” he said.

In Metairie, a heavily Republican section of Jefferson Parish on the edge of New Orleans, voters were dejected by the prospect of an Obama win, but several said they would rally behind him.

Roger Pfeiffer, a 46-year-old Republican who’s trying his hand at movie work as an extra, exemplified feelings there. He dismissed Obama as someone who would raise taxes and take pro-abortion stances, but his fondness for McCain was tempered too.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think either candidate is strong on economics,” Pfeiffer said. “But McCain won’t raise taxes.”

An Obama win, though, wouldn’t embitter him, he said.

“He’s my president. I have to back him. I’d be a hypocrite,” he said. “That’s why I love this country.”