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How blue was our valley on Election Night? It depends on which communities we're talking about.

An analysis of unofficial but complete results from Mon-Yough area cities, townships and boroughs in Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland indicates that while some areas rolled up big margins for Democratic candidate Barack Obama, others went for Republican candidate John McCain by double-digit margins.

All of the Mon-Yough area's cities --- McKeesport, Duquesne, Clairton and Monongahela, Washington County --- went for Obama, in some cases by margins of three or four to one.

Urbanized boroughs, such as Glassport, East McKeesport, East Pittsburgh, Turtle Creek and Wilmerding also went for Obama, but generally by 6 to 10 percent.

Suburban and rural townships and boroughs went for McCain, including Jefferson Hills and Lincoln boroughs and Elizabeth and Forward townships in Allegheny, North Huntingdon and Sewickley townships in Westmoreland, and Union Township in Washington.

Turnout was well over 50 percent in all of the Mon-Yough area communities examined, and over 60 percent in many precincts.

Although communities with significant African-American populations, including the city, Clairton, Duquesne and North Versailles, were won by Obama, his margins of victory in those municipalities were so large that it's reasonable to assume that a clear majority of white residents also went for the Democratic candidate.

That suggests that party affiliation was a stronger motivating factor in the election than racial preference. For example, Mon Valley communities that went for McCain --- such as Liberty Borough, which the Arizona senator carried by 7 percent --- have often leaned Republican in the past. (The borough's mayor for more than 25 years has been Republican Ed Slater.)

Some selected highlights:

City of McKeesport: City residents went for Obama 5,816 to 2,396, a margin of more than 3,400 votes. McCain won only two precincts: Ward 8, District 4 and Ward 12, District 2. In two precincts, McCain's votes were in single digits, and in two other sparsely populated districts in the city's First Ward, no votes were recorded for the Republican.

Port Vue: Obama carried the borough by 38 out of 1,756 votes cast.

White Oak: The borough went for McCain by 230 votes. Obama won a single precinct (District 2), and unofficial returns indicate a tie in District 4.

Clairton: The county's third-largest city went for Obama by 1,659 votes, or a margin of 48 percent.

Dravosburg: Obama and McCain were in a statistical dead-heat; with 905 votes cast, the Democrat led by nine votes, or less than 1 percent.

Elizabeth Borough: The borough went for McCain by 28 votes, or about 4 percent; that's lower than in the two townships it straddles, Elizabeth and Forward. The former went for McCain by 12 percent, and the latter by 8 percent.

West Elizabeth: Meanwhile, directly across the river from Elizabeth, the borough of West Elizabeth went for Obama by 20 votes, or about 9 percent. Jefferson Hills, which surrounds West Elizabeth on three sides, went for McCain by 16 percent, or 898 votes out of 5,488 cast.

Finleyville: The tiny borough in Washington County went for Obama by 12 votes, or about 7 percent. But Union Township, which surrounds Finleyville, went for McCain by 10 percent, or 276 votes.

West Newton: A popular stop on the Youghiogheny River biking/hiking trail, West Newton went narrowly for McCain --- voters gave the Republican a 34 vote edge out of 1,304 votes cast.

North Huntingdon: Norwin-area voters massacred Obama; the Democrat failed to win any of the township's 24 precincts. McCain racked up 10,123 votes to Obama's 6,063, a margin of 63 to 37 percent. Irwin went for McCain by 18 percent, and North Irwin by 22 percent.

Rostraver: Township voters went for McCain by 4 percent, giving the Republican a 190-vote margin.