Regardless of the financial condition of their state, voters in yesterday's Republican primaries considered the economy the top issue influencing their choice.
And even though the debate in the past few weeks has often involved other issues - like contraception or women in combat - there was very little evidence of a gender gap among the leading candidates in several of the major states in play yesterday, and very few voters mentioned abortion as a deciding factor.
In Ohio, Mitt Romney was favored by better-educated, more affluent and older voters. Very conservative voters and those who strongly support the Tea Party backed Rick Santorum. Roman Catholics preferred Mr Romney, and evangelical Christians chose Mr Santorum, who is a Catholic, according to the exit poll.
In Tennessee, Mr Santorum secured the support of those with lower incomes, as well as very conservative voters and evangelical Christians, while those in higher income brackets favoured Mr Romney. Mr Romney handily captured Massachusetts, winning a majority of voters in every group, including conservative groups that have been gravitating more often to Mr Santorum.
Although about half of voters said the state's 2006 health insurance law - which was put in place when Mr Romney was governor - went too far, they gave about 70 percent of the vote to him. Those who were better off financially tended to be the ones who expressed more dismay at the law's reach.
Newt Gingrich prevailed in his native state, Georgia, doing best with older and less-educated voters and those who live in small towns and rural areas. Men and women backed Mr Gingrich about equally. "I'm a Georgia girl, and I just love Newt," said Patches Mongeon (38) a wholesale accounts manager voting in Atlanta.
Unemployment in Ohio is at 7.7 per cent, lower than the national rate of 8.3 per cent. Still, more than half of voters in Ohio considered the economy the most important issue; about a quarter pointed to the federal budget deficit.
About three-quarters said they were very worried about the direction of the nation's economy. Among voters in Georgia, where the unemployment rate is above the national average and the foreclosure rate is one of the highest in the country, nearly 6 in 10 selected the economy as the top issue.It also mattered most for nearly 6 in 10 voters in Massachusetts, which has one of the highest median incomes and low unemployment.
In Oklahoma, Vermont and Virginia, voters for whom the economy was the top issue also backed Mr Romney. More than 7 in 10 voters said the price of gas was an important factor in their vote.
Less affluent voters were more likely to say that gas prices affected their vote choice, particularly in Georgia.
Although Mr Romney had trouble in Georgia and Tennessee with very conservative voters, he did win a majority of the primary-goers in Georgia with an advanced degree and of the voters whose family income was more than $200,000.
Both of these groups also favoured Mitt Romney in Tennessee, as did, moderates, Tea Party opponents, those favoring abortion rights and those looking for a candidate who can beat Mr Obama.
In the earlier contests, Ron Paul did very well with younger voters - getting a sizable portion of those under 30 in some states, where he received a smaller percentage of the overall vote than other candidates.
Yesterday was no exception. About 3 in 10 under 30 in Ohio and Tennessee voted for Mr Paul. In Virginia, where he and Mr Romney were the only candidates on the ballot, Mr Paul received more than 60 per cent of the votes of those under 30 (in fact about 60 per cent of those under 45).
The "younger" vote, however, doesn't have much of an impact in the Republican primaries - about 10 per cent or less in the contests yesterday were under 30.
"He's the only candidate talking about limiting the size of government, reducing the debt and maintaining personal liberties," said Matt Martin (29) a youth minister in Smyrna, Ga., who voted with his toddler and infant in tow.
"All the other choices are votes for more government and more big government."
Although Mr Romney was regarded as the conservative alternative to John McCain when he ran for the nomination four years ago, many voters saw Mr Romney as not conservative enough.
At the same time, Mr Santorum and Mr Paul were seen as too conservative. Mr Gingrich was the only candidate whose positions were selected as "about right" by most primary voters.
Fred Russo (70) and his wife, Estelle (65) also came to the polls to vote for Mr Romney at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Willowick, Ohio, a small suburb about 20 miles east of Cleveland. "I would prefer someone more conservative, but it's important to beat Obama," he said.
In earlier primaries, with the exception of South Carolina, Mr Romney did best with voters who were looking for a candidate who can defeat Mr Obama.
Yesterday, 4 in 10 of those voters backed Mr Romney in Tennessee, while a third voted for Mr Gingrich. Almost half of these voters backed Mr Gingrich in Georgia, but almost as many supported Mr Romney in Oklahoma. In the rest of the states, Mr Romney received a majority.
The exit polls were conducted by Edison Research for a consortium of the television networks and The Associated Press and included in-person interviews with voters as they were leaving polling places across the state and telephone interviews with early and absentee voters.
New York Times