MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Republicans are probably tired of hearing that no GOP presidential candidate has carried the state since Richard Nixon in 1972.

But with Mitt Romney’s performance in Minnesota Tuesday, they’ll be hearing it again four years from now. Obama captured Minnesota’s 10 electoral votes on his way to a second term.

Exit polling conducted for The Associated Press shows economic worries outpaced health care reform, foreign policy and the federal budget deficit as the main concern about Minnesota voters.

About six in 10 said the economy is the most important issue facing the country — three times more than any other issue.

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