The president-elect's double-digit win in Minnesota did not rub off on Democratic Senate contender Al Franken, who finished narrowly behind an incumbent Republican and now faces a recount.
And in Indiana, where Obama poured in money and hundreds of staffers and beat McCain, the state's Republican governor won reelection in a landslide, along with other GOP candidates.
Still, exit polls in Indiana showed the potential for a durable Democratic formula: a slight increase in the Latino share of the vote, up to 4%, with nearly 8 in 10 backing Obama, and a turnaround among Indiana voters ages 18 to 29 who backed Bush in 2004 but this time supported Obama.
Nationally, two-thirds of voters 29 and younger supported Obama, compared with just more than half four years ago who voted for Democrat John F. Kerry.
Obama also cut his losses in the Republican-leaning suburbs, such as Hamilton County outside Indianapolis, where Bush's 2004 victory margin of more than 50,000 was nearly cut in half. And he trimmed margins in some exurban counties such as Pasco on Florida's west coast.
Nationally, the African American vote rose from 11% of the overall electorate to 13% -- a small but substantial gain, particularly when 95% of that group backed Obama.
The Latino share of the vote nationally rose slightly from 2004, but the increases were sharpest in a few states: rising from 8% to 13% in Colorado, from 10% to 15% in Nevada, and from 32% to 41% in New Mexico.
The Latino share rose even in Arizona, McCain's home state. Obama lost there, but his campaign purchased advertising in the final week, perhaps setting the stage for a pickup in four years.
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peter.wallsten@latimes.com
Times staff writer Cynthia Dizikes contributed to this report.
