ANDREA SEABROOK, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Andrea Seabrook.
Another day, another primary, and another set of caucuses.
NPR is projecting a victory for Hillary Rodham Clinton in today's Democratic presidential caucuses in Nevada. Barack Obama is a strong second, and John Edwards is far behind in third place.
In the Republican contest, Mitt Romney has won a resounding victory.
Mr. MITT ROMNEY (Former Republican Governor, Massachusetts; Republican Presidential Candidate): I won among Hispanic Americans, which is a very big statement for my campaign. I'm very pleased that I got that kind of support. And I expect that this campaign will cross ethnic and religious and gender lines and will generate the support that I need to win the nomination.
SEABROOK: John McCain and Ron Paul battled for a very distant second place in Nevada.
We'll have updates as they come in and news from South Carolina, where polls are still open for today's Republican primary until 7 p.m. Eastern Time.
We kick off our election coverage this evening with NPR's Scott Horsley in Nevada.
Scott, let's talk about the turnout and the results in the Democratic caucus. What do you know about the turnout?
SCOTT HORSLEY: Andrea, it was a remarkable turnout on the Democratic side. An estimated 100,000 voters took part in today's caucuses. That's more than just about anybody expected. And for some historical context, it's about 10 times what the Democrats turned out in the last election four years ago. You know, unlike Iowa and New Hampshire, Nevada doesn't really have a long history of playing kingmaker in presidential politics. So, candidates of the party here had to do a lot of education about what the caucus process involves.
And, of course, that pitch battle that we've seen between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has generated a lot of interest, and that is probably reflected in the turnout numbers.
SEABROOK: Scott, Hillary Clinton, NPR's projecting that she will win this caucus and - but Barack Obama is a very strong second. What - tell us the numbers here.
HORSLEY: Well, that's right. And the big question has been how influential the unions here in Nevada would be. It's a more heavily unionized state than either Iowa or New Hampshire. And Barack Obama won the endorsement of the biggest union, the Culinary Workers. There was a big controversy over these Nevada's - Las Vegas strip caucus sites were casino workers were allowed to caucus.
The Clinton campaign was concerned that the culinary workers might exercise a little too much muscle there and that would work to Obama's favor. As it turned out, though, these at-large caucus sites on the Las Vegas strip really only attracted 3 or 4,000 of those 107,000 caucus goers. So they were a fairly small fraction of the overall total.
And even here, in the heart of culinary workers' land, if the caucus site I visited at the Mirage Casino, Hillary Clinton eked out a narrow win.
SEABROOK: That's interesting. So wasn't at all what the campaigns were expecting there that over - the overwhelming number of people going to those caucuses would be from that union that endorsed Obama.
HORSLEY: That's right. Although it was - yeah, you have to say, it was a close contest here. And also a close contest with another of the at-large caucus sites that our colleague Ina Jaffe visited. Clinton got the victory there as well.
SEABROOK: So Scott, I know you spent a week talking to voters there in Nevada. Are the results here consistent with what you've heard from them?
HORSLEY: They are. One of the things we're seeing in the interest polls is the economy with the uppermost issue on their minds. And the politicians have been talking a lot about that.
Mitt Romney, on the Republican side, chose Nevada today to unveil his proposal for economic stimulus package. Certainly, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards have all been spending a lot of time campaigning in the state, talking about how to protect jobs and how to help people who are facing foreclosure. Nevada has the nation's highest foreclosure rate.
SEABROOK: NPR's Scott Horsley in Las Vegas, Nevada.