DETROIT (AP) — Michigan voters endorsed Barack Obama for president Tuesday, delivering 17 electoral votes to the Democratic nominee in a campaign that focused on the miserable economy but lost drama when Republican John McCain retreated from the state.

"I really believe he is going to change things," said Cindy Eaton, 61, of Detroit. "He's going to help the middle class. And I trust him. He knows Michigan is in trouble and he wants to help."

With 65 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday, Obama had 56.7 percent, or 1,765,447 votes, and McCain had 41.6 percent, or 1,295,743 votes.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who backed Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primary season, reveled in Obama's victory and predicted his trade policies would return jobs to Michigan from other countries.

"For generations to come, this nation will no longer be the same. ... The new America is here!" Granholm told supporters.

While recent elections have been close, a Republican presidential candidate hasn't won Michigan since George H.W. Bush in 1988.

From Marquette to Monroe, the weather was no excuse to skip the election. Temperatures even hit the high 60s in the Upper Peninsula. Some people waited nearly five hours to vote at a church on Detroit's east side, but problems at polling places were not widespread.

The economy was the top issue for roughly two-thirds of Michigan voters, according to exit polls, and Obama got a majority of them.

An out-of-work hairdresser, Dennis Moffitt of Eaton County, said the state's economy is "absolutely terrible."

"In three months, I lost 60, 70 clients, whole families moving out of state for their new jobs," said Moffitt, 47, who backed Obama and considers himself a Democrat.

"I haven't worked in over a year. ... We're losing jobs right and left in this state," he said.

Obama's campaign opened more than 60 offices in Michigan and enlisted the help of labor unions, state party activists and college students to register new voters and promote his candidacy.

Indeed, exit polls showed nearly seven in 10 voters in the 18-to-29 age group favored Obama. At the University of Michigan, the excitement in front of the library Tuesday was very public — and loud.

"Nothing says 'I love you' like Obama," sophomore Kate Mulhern, 19, of Lansing said into a horn.

Obama steadily climbed in state polls by fall, appealing to workers who have lost jobs or homes — or both — in a state with a jobless rate more than 2.5 percentage points above the national rate.

He promised to replace lost auto jobs with new ones in alternative energy and struck a more conciliatory tone with the industry after saying earlier in the campaign that he would insist on higher government fuel standards.

In Ottawa County's Spring Lake Township, Laura Zenker, 42, voted for McCain but not with much enthusiasm.

"I'm not real happy with either choice," said Zenker, who has a home-based business.

Ken Horrom, 47, who works at a hospital in Petoskey, said he was attracted to McCain's "values."

"His track record and the fact that he's a war hero also are important at this point," Horrom said.

McCain's last campaign stop in Michigan was Sept. 23 in Saginaw County to talk about solar energy. High-ranking Republicans were stunned when the Arizona Republican abruptly pulled out on Oct. 2 and reassigned staff and money to other states.

The chairman of the Oakland County Republican Party in suburban Detroit said attention shifted to local races when McCain bailed out.

"You have to have a sustained long-term effort. You have to spend the money and the time," Dennis Cowan said. "When that doesn't happen, the result is not a good result."

McCain had hoped to build on his folksy, straight-talking style that connected well with independents and Democrats and helped him win the state's 2000 Republican primary. He came in second to Michigan native Mitt Romney in this year's primary before rallying to win the GOP nomination.

Doug Koopman, a political science professor at Calvin College and former Republican congressional aide, said McCain may have fought longer in Michigan if he had more help from the state party.

Michigan Republicans "don't have a cohesive top-down party organization," he said.

Detroit's large black population was excited about Obama early on. But the Illinois senator avoided appearing with disgraced Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who pleaded guilty in a sex scandal, left office in September and went to jail last week.