Mitt Romney Wins Missouri

Mitt Romney is projected to win Missouri’s 10 electoral votes on Tuesday, defeating Democrat Barack Obama. With 48 percent of the votes counted in the state, Romney leads with 57 to 41 percent of the vote.

Two networks, CBS News and NBC News, have projected Romney to win Missouri.

In the 2008 presidential election, the state voted for the Republican candidate, and since the 1990s has voted for the overall winner of the presidential race 4 out of 5 times.

Romney and Obama did not campaign aggressively in Missouri. The state has typically been a Republican stronghold in recent presidential elections. 

The economy was a key issue for many voters in the state as well as jobs and Obama's push for universal health care. The campaign, while not close in Missouri, was seen as close by some voters nationally.

"I'm here to hopefully have a change in the country. The economy. No jobs. Tax increases on things that aren't necessary. Just the whole mood of the economy," Jack Cusamano of Town and Country said. "I just want to see a leader do what they say they're going to do and help the small people succeed."

Will Edgar, 18, was undecided until this morning when he decided jobs might tilt him toward Romney. The issue that tilted him toward Mitt Romney concerns Edgar's choice of future career: underwater welding. 

"I'm going to school to be an underwater welder and Mitt's all for starting all sorts of drilling, particularly off the East Coast," he said, adding that Obama has sought to restrict it. So, when did he decide? "When I woke up this morning."

Rick Luebcke of Chesterfield, a lifelong Republican, voted for Obama.

"While I spent my career with a major automobile company and have supported the Republican Party, I just don't think that their opinion of how the country should be run helps the people of the country in which they live," he said.

Cole West, of Arnold, told Patch he was pro-Obama because of the president's stance on health care.

"My 4-year-old has a heart condition, and Obama's plan would eliminate the pre-existing condition clause so my daughter Ava could get health insurance," West said.

But Angela Debasto, 20, said of Romney, "I like the plan that he has. I think he knows how to balance the budget better and I don't like the things that have happened in the last four years. We need a change."

Patch editors Frank Johnson, Kalen Ponche, Gabrielle Biondo and Sheri Gassaway contributed to this report.