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Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) got his presidential campaign back on the winning track in the country’s least populated state Saturday, routing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in Wyoming’s caucuses. Obama won the first state to hold a contest since Clinton won three of four states on March 4. The former First Lady’s victories in Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas gave her campaign a much-needed boost, as she had not won a state since Super Tuesday in early February. The Illinois senator, who leads the nominating contest by about 100 delegates, will take a majority of the Cowboy State’s 12 pledged delegates after defeating Clinton by about a three-to-two margin. He led with 58 percent of the vote to her 41 percent, with 91 percent of precincts reporting.Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said during a conference call Saturday that only Democrats voted Saturday, a situation where Clinton typically has done better, and that Obama won the contest even though Clinton had campaigned actively in the state. “This is a very important win for us,” Plouffe said. “This is now our 30th contest where we’ve won the delegates.” The Clinton campaign downplayed the outcome, instead saying Clinton beat expectations with her showing. "We are thrilled with this near split in delegates and are grateful to the people of Wyoming for their support," campaign manager Maggie Williams said. Obama's win followed a pattern for the campaign, in that he continued his strong showings in small states, red states and caucus states. Wyoming is all three. Wyoming held staggered caucuses throughout the day, with the final results coming in at 6 p.m. EST. Obama dominated the larger counties, including Albany and Freemont Counties, which provided much of the margin of victory. The next contest is Tuesday in Mississippi, where Obama is a heavy favorite in that state’s primary. Mississippi is the only major contest left prior to Pennsylvania’s pivotal April 22 primary.
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