(IsraelNN.com) Democratic Senator Barack Obama won 77-78 percent of the Jewish vote, according to exit polls, continuing the trend of three previous elections. Republican Senator John McCain won only 22 percent of the Jewish vote.

The most hotly contested state for the Jewish vote was Florida, where Sen. Obama was declared the winner shortly after midnight, carrying the heavily Jewish-populated area of Miami-Dade County with 58 percent of the vote. He is the second Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since 1976.

Nationwide, Sen. Obama began the summer with Jewish support estimated as low as 60 percent in the wake of fears concerning his Muslim background and his statement of being willing to talk with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

A well-oiled political machine coupled with massive support from the liberal Jewish community catapulted him into a commanding lead outside non-Orthodox Jewish communities.

Jews traditionally vote Democratic, but their support has ranged from a record 90 percent for Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944 and Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 to only 45 percent for Jimmy Carter in 1980.

In 2004, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry won 74 percent of the Jewish vote, and Al Gore won 70 percent of the vote in 2000.