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DAYTON — Bucking the statewide trend, Montgomery County was one of only five counties to go for Sen. Barack Obama in the March 4 Democratic presidential primary.

Fueled by a mix of overwhelming margins in the mostly black precincts of west Dayton, as well as support among more affluent and white southwestern precincts, Obama carried the county with 54 percent of the Democratic vote to 45 percent for Sen. Hillary Clinton, according to unofficial results from the Montgomery County Board of Elections released Wednesday, March 5.

Mark Owens, chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Party, pointed to exit polls that showed Obama had brought in support in some predominantly white suburbs around the state. Delaware County, an affluent bedroom community north of Columbus was one of the five Ohio counties to support Obama, he said, though by a narrow 1 percent margin.

"Part of his strong support has been in the African-American community, and in our community that happens to be in west Dayton," said Owens, who has not declared support for a candidate. "But he also has strong support in predominantly white communities ... and that would certainly fit the pattern of affluent Democrats living in the Washington Twp., Centerville and Oakwood areas."

Obama took the county by 10,558 votes or 9.4 percent, but the city of Dayton made that possible, giving him all of that margin plus another 115 votes.

After Dayton, Obama's larger margins came from northern and western suburbs in Trotwood and Jefferson and Harrison townships.

Democrats in Clayton, Oakwood, Kettering, Washington Twp. and Centerville also favored Obama, but by smaller margins. In Centerville, 51 more Democrats voted for Obama than Clinton, giving him a 1 percent margin of victory.

The support in west Dayton and its surrounding suburbs was overwhelming. Seventy-seven of the county's 548 precincts went more than 8-1 for Obama, and 17 precincts voted more than 9-1.

These are some of the same precincts that voted overwhelmingly for former President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.

The county's strongest support for Obama came in Dayton precinct 19-D, which votes at the Greater Love Christian Church at 2345 Lakeview Ave. Of the 183 Democratic voters who cast ballots in the precinct on Tuesday, 176 or 96 percent voted for Obama. Only seven voted for Clinton.

In 1992 and 1996, the precinct went 92 percent and 95 percent for Bill Clinton.

Hillary Clinton, meanwhile got her biggest margins over Obama in more rural areas in the western part of the county, along with Riverside, Brookville and Moraine. In total votes, her strongest support came from Riverside, which gave her almost 1,300 more votes than Obama.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2393 or kmccall@DaytonDailyNews.com.