Connecticut delivered a victory to John McCain in the GOP primary Tuesday, while Barack Obama was the winner by a narrow margin over Hillary Clinton in an extremely close Democratic race, FOX News projected.

With 85 percent of the votes cast, Obama led Clinton 50 percent to 47 percent.

With 51 percent of votes cast, McCain led former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney 51 percent to 33 percent.

"This time must be different, this time we have to turn the page, this time we have to write a new chapter in American history," Obama told supporters Tuesday night. "We have to choose between going forwards and going backwards."

Obama's victory comes in a state long thought to be a Clinton stronghold. Clinton held a double-digit lead in polls of likely voters in January, but Obama closed the gap as the once-crowded Democratic field narrowed to two."I've never seen a race where a candidate came from so far behind to win," said state Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr., a co-chairman of Obama's Connecticut campaign. "But I've never seen a candidate who's not only been right on the issues, but has the ability to inspire and motivate and bring new people into the process."

The state's Republicans chose McCain as their presidential candidate for the second time in eight years.

In 2000, he beat George W. Bush, who was born in New Haven and went on to win the nomination and the presidency that year.

The Arizona senator easily won the Nutmeg State's GOP primary Tuesday over chief rival Romney.

"I am as confident tonight as I’ve ever been that we can succeed in November by uniting our party," McCain told a cheering crowd Tuesday night. "We will do it by standing up forcefully with those principles that made our party and our country so successful."

Connecticut has a history of electing independent-minded Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays and former Sen. and Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr.

"People in Connecticut like someone who deals straight with them, who just speaks the truth," said U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, state co-chairman of McCain's campaign. "They also like that he'll reach across the aisle ... and get things done. They know he's ready for the first day he'll be commander-in-chief."

McCain also had the backing of Gov. M. Jodi Rell and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, who was the other co-chairman of the state effort.

The closeness of the Democratic race was underscored in the final days of the campaign when Clinton made two visits, including a stop Monday at Yale University, where she attended law school. That evening, Obama drew more than 15,000 to a packed rally at the XL Center in Hartford, highlighting the growing enthusiasm in Connecticut for the Illinois senator.

They were competing for 48 delegates to the Democratic national convention, a tiny fraction of the 2,025 needed to clinch the party's nomination. They will be divided between the candidates based on the final results. Among Connecticut's 12 super delegates, top state party officials who get an automatic vote at the national convention, Obama currently holds the advantage.

"The fact is, the numbers are really close so the delegates should be split, almost evenly," said State Comptroller Nancy Wyman, a Clinton supporter. "We would have loved to have won, but we're going from here to Denver, to the White House."

The split was reflected at the highest levels of Connecticut government. Democratic U.S. Reps. Rosa DeLauro, John Larson and Chris Murphy backed Obama, while Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Wyman stumped for Clinton.

"It's a close call," said psychology professor Tony Lemieux, 32, who voted for Obama on Tuesday morning in Milford. "My wife voted for Hillary. We're splitting the delegates, at least in our house."

The split was reflected at the highest levels of Connecticut government. Democratic U.S. Reps. Rosa DeLauro, John Larson and Chris Murphy backed Obama, while Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Wyman stumped for Clinton.

In Glastonbury, Milly Dainty, 86, voted for Clinton in part because of her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Also, she said it felt good to vote for a woman.

"She has her own knowledge and the knowledge of her husband as well," Dainty said.

But Windsor resident and physical education teacher Mark Champlin, 58, has had enough of the Clintons and voted for Obama.

"I think he's good for change," Champlin said. "I think he'll keep his word. Maybe we need some new blood instead of Bush-Bush-Clinton-Clinton."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.