Bush also got a boost from the religious right in the home state of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. Only one in five voters said they are part of the conservative Christian political movement, considerably fewer than in GOP primaries in South Carolina and Michigan, but they went overwhelmingly for the Texas governor.

Bush and McCain split those not aligned with the religious right, according to the exit poll by Voter News Service for The Associated Press and television networks.

Wendy Moynihan, 31, of Norfolk, said she decided to vote for Bush after McCain attacked Robertson and Falwell in a Virginia Beach speech Monday.

"It was not what I wanted to see in this election," she said, calling the Arizona senator's tactics in Virginia and in the Feb. 22 Michigan primary "dirty politics."

Virginia's Republican primary was open to all registered voters, but about two-thirds of voters called themselves Republican -- in striking contrast to Michigan, where less than half were Republicans and where McCain beat Bush.

In Virginia, Bush won nearly 3-1 among Republicans. McCain won nearly two-thirds of independents and an even larger share of Democrats, who made up less than 10 percent of voters.

Among Republicans, nearly half said McCain was not conservative enough, and nine in 10 of them voted for Bush. Only one in 20 Republicans said McCain was too conservative. The rest said he was "about right" and more than half voted for him.

The ideological divide that was evident in earlier primaries grew even larger in Virginia, the exit poll indicated. Six in 10 voters called themselves conservative and they went nearly 3-1 for Bush; among moderates and liberals, two-thirds backed McCain.

Voters were split on abortion, but Bush fared better among abortion foes than McCain did among those who supported keeping it legal.

As in other early open primary states, McCain drew most of his Virginia votes from self-described independents and Democrats, the exit poll found.

Whether many McCain voters stick with the Republican Party in November appears to depend on his being its presidential nominee. If Bush faces Vice President Al Gore, four in 10 McCain backers said they would vote for the Democrat. About nine in 10 McCain voters said they would vote for McCain if he were the GOP nominee against Gore. Only one in 10 Bush voters said they would support McCain if he wins the nomination and faces Gore.

Half the voters said Bush says what he believes -- his best showing on that question so far this primary season.

"I like what he stands for, his overall philosophy," said Phil Renzulli, 54, a Bush voter interviewed by a reporter outside his Alexandria polling place.

More than a third of the voters picked moral values as the most important issue in their vote, and they went heavily for Bush. About 15 percent were most concerned about taxes and they also voted overwhelmingly for the Texas governor.

About 30 percent of voters were veterans, but that did not help McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Bush edged him out among veterans.

The results were from a partial sample of 1,183 voters surveyed by VNS in 35 randomly selected precincts around Virginia. The margin of error due to sampling was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, greater for subgroups. VNS did not conduct exit polls in two other contests Tuesday, primaries in Washington state and caucuses in North Dakota.