Photo Courtesy Jess and Colin 

Crowds of jersey-wearing fans, distant chants of “Let’s Go Giants”, and last minute campaigners urging New Yorkers to vote characterized most parts of Manhattan yesterday.

And as excitement roared through the NY Giants’ celebratory Ticker-Tape Parade downtown, an equal amount of excitement cascaded across the entire nation throughout the day and night as polls closed and votes were counted.

Here are the results:

Hillary Clinton took eight out of 22 states (Arizona, Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, and Tennessee) on the Democratic side. Though she won fewer states than Obama, Clinton’s win in the biggest delegate prize, California, proved to be a big one. Exit polls showed that Clinton maintains strong support among women and among older voters. She also won her home states of Arkansas and New York.

Barack Obama took 13 out of the 22 states (Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Utah) and is currently leading in a very close race in New Mexico. Though taking home more states, Obama still trails slightly on the estimated delegate count. The race is almost evenly split and can go either way in the coming weeks. Exit polls showed Obama’s strongest support among 18-24 year olds and African-American voters in some states. He also took his home state of Illinois at an impressively large margin.

John McCain came out on top on the Republican side taking 9 out of 21 states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma). Unlike the Democratic race, McCain can be named the clear frontrunner of Super Tuesday among the Republican candidates, taking the largest number states and the largest number of delegates. Along with the greatest number of states, McCain also won big in New York and California.

Mitt Romney follows with victories in 7 of the 21 states (Alaska, Colorado, Massachusetts, Montana, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Utah). Romney stated last night that he intends to continue with the race, though the night proved to be disappointing for him, winning states he was expected to win and failing to impress otherwise.

Mike Huckabee came in third taking 5 out of the 21 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, and West Virginia). Huckabee did better than most media predicted in the past few weeks, victoriously claiming a large number of southern states. Still, he must work to expand his popularity to other regions.

The race remains close and may stay that way until the convention, particularly for the Democrats. The upcoming primaries and caucuses will be crucial. On Feb. 9, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington, and the Virgin Islands will be next.