CHARLESTON, South Carolina (CNN) -- Sen. John McCain of Arizona will win the South Carolina Republican primary, CNN projects.
John McCain celebrates with supporters in Charleston, South Carolina. more photos »
"It took us a while, but what's eight years among friends?" McCain said, referring to his loss to George W. Bush in the state's 2000 primary.
McCain edged out former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to seal a crucial win Saturday.
"The path to the White House is not ending here tonight," Huckabee said after the results came in. "Tomorrow we wake up to fight the battle yet again and yet again." Watch Huckabee pump up supporters »
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson was in third, followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. See what the results mean »
McCain ran strong in the coastal Low Country around Charleston and ran even with Huckabee in the state's inland Piedmont region, according to exit polls.
"It is an impressive victory. It was a narrow victory. What was remarkable is he did it without carrying conservatives. South Carolina is the homeland of conservatives. That's why it exercises so much influence in the Republican party," said CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider.
"Essentially, McCain did it on a personal vote. It wasn't ideology; it wasn't issues. It was a vote for him personally, which has always been his strongest appeal," Schneider said. Watch McCain thank supporters in South Carolina »
The state's Republican primary voters have picked their party's eventual nominee in every election since 1980.
South Carolina's Democratic primary is next Saturday.
The Republican results came in just hours after Nevada held its caucuses. See scenes from Saturday's races »
On the Democratic side, Sen. Hillary Clinton took Nevada, and among Republicans, Romney was the winner.
Clinton led rival Barack Obama by 6 percentage points with 98 percent of precincts reporting.
Although Clinton won the overall state vote, Obama took more delegates because of the areas where he won. CNN projects that Obama will pick up 13 delegates to Clinton's 12.
Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards was a distant third.
Rep. Ron Paul edged out McCain to take second place among Republicans, ahead of Thompson and Huckabee.
California Rep. Duncan Hunter, who received just 2 percent of the GOP vote, abandoned his presidential bid after the results came in.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who had poor showings in both Nevada and South Carolina, largely skipped the early voting states to focus on Florida and the delegate-rich states competing in the Super Tuesday contests on February 5.
In both South Carolina and Nevada, Republicans named the economy as the most important issue affecting their vote in the primary and caucus, according to early exit polling data.
And illegal immigration was the second-most important issue. The war in Iraq, followed by terrorism, were next, the exit polls showed.
Exit polls in South Carolina indicated clear divisions among voters. Among those who considered themselves born-again or evangelical Christians, Huckabee won a clear victory.
Among those that viewed the war in Iraq to be the most important issue, McCain was dominant -- but Iraq ranked as only the third-most important issue among all voters.
McCain tried unsuccessfully to extend polling hours in South Carolina after learning voting machines in the eastern part of the state were malfunctioning, according to a lawyer for his campaign.
Earlier in the day, Clinton thanked her supporters in Nevada.
"I guess this is how the West was won," she said. Watch Clinton celebrate in Nevada »
Clinton issued a special thanks to her supporters from the 60,000-strong Culinary Workers Union. Clinton had been encouraging members of the union, which endorsed Obama, to vote their conscience.
Zachary Conine, a permanent caucus chairman in Las Vegas, said Clinton's campaign organization helped hand her the win.
"Her people are efficient, fervent. They were there first, they were calling people, they had a list of voters they were using to call people, making sure people came out. They had signs, they had shirts, they had a clear chain of command," he said.
Nevada marks the third win for Romney. He took Michigan on Tuesday and also won the overshadowed contest in Wyoming.
"If you can win those two states -- Michigan and Nevada -- it means you have put together quite a coalition and have been able to make the kind of inroads you have to make to take the White House," he said Saturday afternoon from Florida. Watch Romney claim victory »
In a presidential race that's increasingly coming down to who has the most delegates, a win helps Romney.
Romney also benefited from his Mormon religion, the poll results show. Romney captured 94 percent of the voters who identified themselves as Mormon, which made up 25 percent of all Republicans participating in the GOP caucuses.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints estimates there are 170,000 members living in Nevada.
So far among Democrats, Clinton has won New Hampshire, Nevada and Michigan. In Michigan, she was the only major candidate on the ballot. Obama claimed victory in Iowa.
Among Republicans, Huckabee won Iowa, McCain won New Hampshire and South Carolina, and Romney won Wyoming, Michigan and Nevada.
The Democrats next face off in South Carolina on Saturday, and the Republican race heads to Florida for the January 29 primary. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Bill Schneider and Kate Taylor contributed to this report.
All About South Carolina • Nevada
L'ancien gouverneur du Massachusetts Mitt Romney est sorti vainqueur hier des primaires républicaines dans le Nevada pour l'élection présidentielle américaine de 2008.

Après le dépouillement de 2 % des votes, il devançait son premier concurrent avec une marge de 3 à 1, obtenant 45 % des voix. Mitt Romney, qui se place entre la deuxième et la troisième place chez les républicains à l'échelle nationale, semble avoir été favorisé dans cet État par des préoccupations sur la santé de l'économie américaine, ainsi que des inquiétudes sur l'immigration. C'est la troisième victoire de Mitt Romney dans ces primaires après avoir remporté mardi celles dans son État natal du Michigan et dans le Wyoming (victoire éclipsée par d'autres résultats). Selon un sondage réalisé pour CNN parmi les électeurs du Nevada, l'immigration et l'économie étaient en tête de leurs préoccupations, dépassant de loin le sujet de l'Irak ou de la guerre contre le terrorisme (les points faibles de la campagne de Mitt Romney). 38 % des personnes interrogées considéraient ainsi l'économie comme la question principale.

Ron Paul, représentant républicain du Texas à la Chambre des représentants des États-Unis et partisan du libertarianisme, et John McCain étaient au coude à coude pour la deuxième place, avec environ 13 % des voix chacun. Les démocrates votaient également ce samedi, les résultats ayant été connu un peu plus tard dans l'après-midi.

La primaire du Nevada a été largement éclipsée par celle de Caroline du Sud, qui se tenait le même jour, ce qui est relativement surprenant puisque le Nevada va envoyer davantage de délégués à la Convention nationale républicaine de septembre. La Caroline du Sud s'est vu retirer la moitié de ses délégués après avoir violé les règles du parti en organisant sa primaire avant le Super Tuesday.

Côté démocrate, c'est la sénatrice de l'État de New-York, Hillary Clinton qui a remporté la primaire dans le Nevada avec 52 % des suffrages, devançant de 8 % son adversaire Barack Obama (à 44 %). Hillary Clinton a remporté cet État grâce au vote de la minorité latino-américaine et des femmes. Il existe cependant une certaine controverse sur le fait que certains votes lors de ses primaires ont eu lieu dans des casinos, donnant la possibilité aux personnes y travaillant de voter. Une association éducative de l'État du Nevada ainsi que six individus ont déposé une plainte, estimant que ces conditions de vote étaient injustes et donneraient davantage de représentants au Nevada par rapport aux autres États et qu'elles enfreignaient les lois de l'État. En raison du fait que certains dirigeants d'associations éducatives de l'État du Nevada aient soutenu Hillary Clinton et que la plainte ait été déposée deux jours après que 226 membres de l'Union locale des travailleurs de la restaurationaient soutenu Barack Obama, certains commentateurs politiques ont estimé qu'une bataille proxy s'était jouée dans le camp démocrate.

;Tableau des résultats par parti.
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 Candidat démocrate

 Nb. de votes

 Pourcentage

 Délégués nationaux



 Hillary Clinton 

 5 355 

 51 % 

 12



 ''Barack Obama'' 

 4 773 

 45 % 

 13



 John Edwards 

 396 

 4 % 

 0



 ''Autonomes'' 

 31 

 0 % 

 0



 Dennis Kucinich 

 5 

 0 % 

 0



 '''Total''' 

 10 560 

 100 % 

 34





''' Parti républicain  vainqueur :''' Mitt Romney





 Candidat républicain

 Nb. de votes

 Pourcentage

 Délégués nationaux




Mitt Romney

22 649

51 %

18



Ron Paul

6 087

14 %

4



John McCain

5 651

13 %

4



Mike Huckabee

3 616

8 %

3



Fred Thompson

3 521

8 %

2



Rudy Giuliani

1 910

4 %

1



Duncan Hunter

890

2 %

0



 '''Total''' 

 44 324 

 100 % 

 34