McCain wins GOP nod, Huckabee bows out

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain clinched the GOP nomination Tuesday night -- with a big push from Texans and Tarrant County residents -- eight years after his first bid for the White House died.

In Texas, Rhode Island, Ohio and Vermont, the U.S. senator from Arizona drew large support, easily pulling ahead of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who once studied at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, as well as Texan U.S. Rep. Ron Paul.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Texas," McCain told a Dallas crowd.

Standing near a banner that marked the more than 1,191 delegates he had won, McCain said he never believed he was "destined" to be president, but he asked for everyone's support.

"Stand up with me, my friends, stand up and fight for America -- for her strength, her ideals and her future," McCain said. "As you know, like all campaigns, it will have its ups and downs. But we will fight every minute of every day to make certain we have a government that is as capable, wise, brave and decent as the great people we serve.

"That is our responsibility and I will not let you down."

His speech came shortly after Huckabee -- who last week asked Fort Worth supporters to back him in his long-shot fight for the nomination -- formally ended his quest Tuesday night.

He said he called McCain to concede and offer to help bring together Republicans and the country.

"It is now important that we turn our attention not to what could have been or what we wanted to have been, but what now must be, and that is a united party," Huckabee said. "We'll go home [Tuesday night] and hopefully bring our team together for the transition.

"We'll be working on doing everything we can to help Senator McCain and our party."

McCain dominated most of Texas, drawing 52 percent of the vote to Huckabee's 37 percent and Paul's 5 percent, according to incomplete, unofficial election returns. In Tarrant County, McCain garnered 48 percent of the vote to Huckabee's 42 percent and Paul's 4 percent, according to the returns.

McCain lead in all quadrants of the state, although Huckabee found pockets of support in counties such as Harrison, Kinney, Shelby and Titus.

McCain became the front-runner in the race last month, prompting Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani to drop out, leaving just Huckabee and Paul to battle him for the nomination.

McCain's long-awaited victory came eight years after he lost a bid to George W. Bush -- and just months after many thought his campaign was doomed and in shambles.

But McCain, 71, persevered through a crowded field of GOP presidential hopefuls until he finally got enough delegates to win the nomination that will formally be awarded at the National Republican Convention in September.

His win drew quick and sharp criticism from Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean.

"John McCain is out of touch with the issues facing Americans each day," Dean said. "The closer voters look at the real McCain record, the more they will realize he cannot be trusted to deliver the change America wants."

Though he didn't name a Democratic challenger by name, McCain took a few swipes at his eventual opponent's positions on trade, health care and Iraq.

"I will leave it to my opponent to propose returning to the failed, big government mandates of the '60s and '70s to address problems such as the lack of health care insurance for some Americans," McCain said.

As for Huckabee, he departed from the race despite great support from social conservatives and evangelicals.

"Governor Huckabee gave it a good ride," said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "If McCain is defeated in November, and the Republican nomination is wide open in 2012, he will be one of the best known Republicans."

Staff writers Alex Branch and Scott Streater contributed to this report.