By Siobhan McDonough
Associated Press Writer
Republicans' hopes that President Bush would improve his standing with black voters came to little or nothing Tuesday, but he did better with Hispanics than four years ago.
Bush was doing as poorly with blacks as he did in 2000, getting only about one in 10 of their votes, exit polls indicated. His performance with black voters in 2000 was the worst for a Republican presidential candidate since Barry Goldwater got 6 percent in 1964 in his race against Lyndon Johnson.
Kerry also led among Hispanic voters, but the gap was closer and Bush made some progress on that front -- getting 40 percent of their votes or a bit higher. Kerry had a 15-point lead over Bush with Hispanics -- about half the margin that Democrat Al Gore enjoyed in 2000.
Bush, a former Texas governor, actively courted the Hispanic vote in both presidential campaigns and speaks passing Spanish.
Blacks made up roughly the same proportion of voters as in 2000, exit polls suggested. About one in 10 voters was black.
The proportion of Hispanic voters rose marginally, to close to 10 percent.
Kerry won Illinois' 21 electoral votes Tuesday night on the strength of black and Hispanic support, with whites in the Democratic-leaning state split evenly between Kerry and Bush.
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