SOUTH BEND — Plenty of local Republican eyes were glued to early returns Tuesday night. And even as projections began to show Barack Obama as the winner, many at St. Joseph County Republican Headquarters still hadn’t given up on keeping Indiana "red."

As the clock passed 11 p.m., the race for Hoosier votes was still too close to call.

But the numbers were not encouraging for John McCain. Minutes later, CBS News called the race for Barack Obama.

It was another tough blow for local Republicans, who had been through concession speech after concession speech at St. Joseph County GOP Headquarters on nearly every local race they'd contested.

Incumbent Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and his running mate Becky Skillman won a large victory in the race to lead the state for another 4 years.

But, locally, only incumbent County Councilmen Dennis Schafer (District F) and Councilman Mark Root (R-District I) won their races.

Challengers for several State Representative seats, County Recorder, County Coroner, County Treasurer, and Congress (District 2) were all defeated.

Once the conciliatory speeches wrapped up, all eyes turned to the race for the White House, with high hopes to salvage at least some sort of victory celebration.

“It’s interesting to keep an eye on what Indiana’s going to do,” said Tim Hanlon of Osceola. “Hopefully it will go McCain’s way.”

But, as the numbers continued to roll in, McCain-Palin supporters became increasingly "blue," as state after state turned the same shade.

“They just called Ohio, so I’m definitely a little more nervous now,” said McCain supporter Stephen Bant, a Notre Dame student from Northern Wisconsin. “Unless we find out something that is wrong in the exit polling and would reverse that result, that’s a pretty difficult thing to overcome.”

Still, most refused to lose faith.

“We’re hoping that it’s just the beginning for him, and he could pick up some momentum," said Hanlon's wife Christy.

Still, as the returns continued to roll Obama's way, local party leaders said they weren't discouraged.

“Because I know that we’ve been outspent heavily,” said Chris Riley, St. Joseph County GOP Chair. “I know we’ve been outworked heavily by people who have come in from other states — we’ve dealt with a few of them today — but at the same time the Republican Party is still alive and we are holding our ground. I think at the end of the night the state's going to go red.”

Still, there was no mistaking the long faces, hoping for a last minute surprise, but preparing for another tough blow.

“This is a party that’s growing. We’re going to build on this, and we’re going to keep moving forward,” said Riley.