CLIFTON – The anticipation over who would succeed Pres. George W. Bush ended just before midnight Tuesday, as broadcasters announced Americans had ultimately chosen Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois to be the 44th president of the United States and its first black president.

City residents did their patriotic duty and voted Tuesday, affirming their choice for the country’s next leader. The day brought out families, new voters, "Joe-the-Plumbers" and all those who wanted to be part of the historic race.

"Very unofficial" results from the Passaic County Clerk’s Office as of Wednesday morning, Clifton Journal’s press time, showed that 31,887 votes, including absentee ballots, were cast in Clifton. (During the last presidential election, 28,425 of Clifton’s registered voters turned out to vote. Democratic candidate John Kerry won Clifton in 2004.)

Passaic County Election officials were still tallying votes on Wednesday morning and would not release any further information.

Of the City’s 44,885 registered voters, 23,054 are registered as independent, 14,261 as Democrat, 7,558 as Republican and 12 belong to other parties.

In a community of middle class citizens, parties aside, it was the issues the middle-class and the post 9/11 generation is facing that voters talked about in choosing the candidate they thought would do best in the White House.

When asked what the most important issue was for him in this election, William Conoscienti, Sr., 54, said "jobs."

"Everything is slow in Passaic County," said Conoscienti, who works for a contractor and electrician.

His son Christopher Conoscienti, 29, said business is down 40 percent at the company he operates in Passaic, making staircases for homes, and he’s had to lay-off employees.

Both father and son voted for Obama, but Christopher called the decision a "no-brainer."

"McCain is another Bush and the economy is bad," he said.

Patricia Baker, 37, a dental office manager and assistant, voted for Obama’s Republican competitor Sen. John McCain, opposing the idea of "spreading the wealth" that Obama has iterated.

"I work very hard. My husband works very hard. I don’t believe people should get handouts," she said.

Jovany Avendano, 44, exited the polls with his wife and 15-year-old son on Tuesday. Avendano said he voted for Obama because "he wants to get a lot of health care for everybody and take people from Iraq and bring them back home."

Issues like terrorism influenced couple George and Rosemary Lazaro to vote for McCain.

"Homeland security is the most important thing," said Rosemary, 60, adding that she and her husband had friends who lost children in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"That you can’t let go," she said, bluntly.

"Republicans traditionally, they have always been the ones to defend…not take crap," added George Lazaro.

Some voters based their decision on candidates’ experience.

Gladys Contreras, 50, a teacher and an immigrant from Peru, said she voted for McCain because "he’s older and has more experience."

What Obama is offering isn’t clear, she said. "It’s only going to get worse because he’s only talking. There is no way to do what he wants to do," she said.

In contrast, Glen Gadaire voted for Obama and said he wasn’t concerned with the candidate’s short stint in office.

"I think he makes a lot of promises on a lot that might happen. Even though he’s younger, he has a lot of fresh ideas," said Gadaire, 37. "If he gets the right advisors, he can make things happen."

Young voters like Johanna Flores also did not miss their chance to vote in the historic election.

Flores, 20, joined her father Mario to vote at School 17 on Election Day. Even though her father voted for McCain, Flores’ vote went to Obama.

"I think he could do better things for the country," Flores said.

Mohammad Siddiqui, 21, said he felt "relieved" after finally casting his vote in his first presidential election. He chose Obama, adding that he’s fed up with partisan politics.

"I think he’s better at bringing parties together and getting ride of the gridlock" he said.

First time voter Yanimah Cantu, 21, said this election would probably be the most important of all for her.

"There’s never been an African American [president] and I think its going to be different, hopefully," she said after voting for Obama. "I think he’ll be a great president and he’ll make a lot of changes.