It was close, but Hillary Clinton bested Barack Obama in the four congressional districts representing North County and Southwest Riverside County.

John McCain and now former presidential candidate Mitt Romney each took two.

In Tuesday's Democratic primary, the latest figures from the California Secretary of State's Office show Clinton edged Obama in the 45th, 49th, 50th and 52nd Congressional Districts.

Each of the districts is represented in Congress by a Republican, and registered Republicans far outnumber registered Democrats in each district. But Clinton earned more votes in each local district than any other candidate in either major party.

The key difference, election observers said, was the state Democratic Party's decision to allow registered independents to vote alongside registered Democrats in that party's primary. As expected, local party leaders debated whether the high vote totals earned by the Democratic front-runners carried any larger meaning, or whether independents would vote Democratic in the November general election.

The 45th District is in Riverside County while the 49th includes the Temecula area as well as North County. The 50th represents North County while the 52nd includes portions of Ramona and Poway.

Romney, who dropped his bid for the Republican presidential nomination Thursday, got more votes than McCain in the 49th and 52nd Districts.

The closest Obama came to winning a local district was the 50th, where he trailed the New York senator by 1,140 votes as of Thursday.

In the raw vote in the four districts, Clinton had 137,440 votes compared with 105,946 for McCain and 103,365 for Romney. Obama's total was 99,477.

Despite Clinton's win in the popular vote, party rules that apportion delegates on the basis of the percentages received in each congressional district mean that Obama emerges from California far from empty-handed.

While specific delegate counts for each district are not yet available, in part because the absentee ballot count goes on, the latest tallies show Clinton winning 195 delegates in California and Obama 152.

McCain took nearly all the Republican delegates on his way to solidifying his front-runner status, pocketing 159 compared with only six for Romney.

Overall, there were more Democratic than Republican presidential ballots recorded in San Diego and Riverside counties, in part because registered independents, or "decline to state" voters, were allowed to vote in the Democratic primary while only registered Republicans could vote for a GOP candidate.

In San Diego County's 1,801 precincts, the latest figures showed there were 310,743 Democratic votes compared with 250,391 Republican ballots.

In Riverside County, 140,956 Democratic votes were recorded compared with 129,808 Republican.

The growing number of registered independents -- 23 percent in San Diego County -- are seen as a target-rich opportunity for Democrats in the November general election, according to Jess Durfee, chairman of the San Diego County Democratic Party.

"We are planning to treat all of those independents who requested Democratic ballots as Democrats from this point forward," Durfee said Thursday. "We will do outreach by making a special effort to talk to them and encourage them to join the party.

Jack Pitney, a respected political science professor at Claremont McKenna College, said the the higher number of Democratic votes here and around the country is cause for some worry within the GOP.

"There's been a much larger Democratic turnout and that is an ominous sign for McCain," he said in a telephone interview. "But on the other hand, some polling shows him leading Clinton or Obama in head-to-head matchups and that has to provide some reassurance."

The chairman of the San Diego County Republican Party, Tony Krvaric, said the fact so many more Democratic ballots were cast in the primary isn't a big concern.

"The party that isn't in power is always a little more enthused to go out and vote," he said. "The fact remains that San Diego County has more registered Republicans."

As of January, the county had 440,568 registered Democrats compared with 498,525 Republicans. The number of "decline to state" independents has been growing and now accounts for nearly a quarter of the county's 1.3 million registered voters.

Krvaric also said the fact that much of the local Republican Party establishment was supporting Romney won't matter come the fall.

"This is a conservative Republican county and he was much more organized here," he said. "But the party has a history of coming together after divisive primaries."

Local elected officials to declare their support for McCain heading into Tuesday included 49th Congressional District Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista and state Assemblyman George Plescia, R-San Diego, whose district includes part of North County.

Romney backers included 50th District Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, who opposes McCain's position on immigration. Bilbray said earlier this week that McCain "has some explaining to do" to conservatives opposed to his support for a pathway to citizenship for the country's more than 12 million illegal immigrants.

Pitney, who spent time on Capitol Hill as a Republican congressional staffer, said the perception that McCain is a liberal Republican is largely inaccurate.

"He has to emphasize his record as a conservative, which he mostly has been," he said. "There have been issues where he has strayed, and listening to talk radio you would think he's Ted Kennedy.

"The reality is he's much closer to someone like Bob Dole."

State GOP Chairman Ron Nehring issued a statement Thursday saying that Romney's exit moves the party much closer to knowing its nominee. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas remain in the Republican race but face mountainous odds in overcoming McCain.

"I look forward to working with Republicans in this state and throughout the nation to ensure that neither Barack Obama nor Senator Clinton ever enter the White House without a visitor pass," Nehring said.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.