New Yorkers supported President Barack Obama for re-election by 3 to 2, but white voters — 71 percent of the state’s electorate — tilted slightly toward Republican Mitt Romney over Obama. Black and Hispanic New Yorkers supported Obama by overwhelming margins.

STRONG SUPPORT FOR GILLIBRAND

Democratic incumbent Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand won re-election over Republican Sen. Wendy Long carrying all age groups and ethnic groups. About three-fourths of female voters and 6 in 10 male voters backed Gillibrand.

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STORM RESPONSE A FACTOR

In an election that took place a week after Superstorm Sandy struck the New York region, 7 in 10 New Yorkers said Obama’s response to the storm was a factor in their vote for president. Just 1 in 5 said it was the most important factor, however.

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THE ECONOMY

Almost two-thirds of New Yorkers said the economy is the most important issue facing the country. Asked who is to blame for the current economic problems, New Yorkers were nearly twice as likely to blame former President George Bush as Obama. A majority of New Yorkers said they believe Obama would handle the economy better than Republican Mitt Romney would. “I think if Obama is re-elected he can get the unemployment rate down to 6 percent,” said Joe Anania, 60, an acting teacher who voted in Manhattan. But Mark Burgess, 53, said Romney understands finance and the economy. “He ran Bain for 15 years and he doubled the money,” said Burgess, who works in finance.

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SUPPORT FOR SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, LEGAL ABORTION

One year after same-sex marriage became legal in New York, three in five of the state’s voters said they support gay marriage. On another hot-button issue, New Yorkers solidly backed the right to legal abortion. Seven in 10 said abortion should be legal either in all cases or in most cases.

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VOTING FOR A CANDIDATE, NOT AGAINST THE OTHER CANDIDATE

Nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers said that in their vote for president they “strongly favored” their candidate. Another 3 in 10 said they supported their candidate with reservations. Only a small number said they were motivated by dislike of other candidates.

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The exit poll of 1,449 New York voters was conducted for AP and the television networks by Edison Research in a random sample of 23 precincts statewide. Results were subject to sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points; it is higher for subgroups.

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Online: http://surveys.ap.org/exitpolls