Hillary Clinton took an early lead in the Ohio presidential primary in her bid to end a string of victories by Democratic rival Barack Obama.

With only a few thousand votes counted, Clinton was polling 56 percent and Obama 42 percent. Chlinton was also ahead of Obama among voters questioned for exit polls, but the number of votes reported is so low that news organizations were not yet calling the race for either candidate.

Obama was declared the victor of the Vermont primary, where vote totals are also low but exit polls showed him with strength among all groups of voters.

In Republican primaries, John McCain was the easy winner in Vermont and Ohio, and on track to pick up all delegates in each state.

Polls in Rhode Island close at 5 p.m. Pacific, and most polls in Texas close at 5 p.m. but some in the western portions of the state close at 6 p.m.

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