Historic U.S. Elections

The U.S. media projected Democrat candidate Barack Obama has won the historic elections early on Wednesday, becoming the first African-American president. Sen. John McCain congratulated Obama for his victory.

CNN, ABC and FOX projected at 11 p.m. Eastern time (GMT 0400) that Obama had won the election.

Obama won Ohio, a key battleground state with 20 electoral votes. No Republican has won the White House without winning Ohio. Going into the election, polls showed Obama with a 3-point lead there.

Obama has held off assaults by McCain in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, the top two states that Democrats won in 2004 and that McCain had fought to take back.

Obama won victories across the northeast, sweeping every state in New England as well as New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and his home state of Illinois.

McCain won a number of southern states, including West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana.

Obama is projected to win California, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii.

He also is projected to win Virginia, a state that hasn’t voted for a Democratic president since 1964.

CNN earlier projected that Obama will win Ohio,

Obama and McCain are running a tight race in Indiana as results are tallied in the battleground state.

With about 85 percent of precincts reporting, McCain held a slim lead in the state.

In addition to the presidential contest, voters were making choices in a number of key House and Senate races that could determine whether the Democrats strengthen their hold on Congress.

Democrats seem to gain the majority in House and Senate as well.