Washington (PTI): Barack Obama, aspiring to be the first black American President, was today just short of 70 delegates to reach the magic figure of 2,026 needed to clinch the hard-fought Democratic nomination after scoring an impressive win over Hillary Clinton in the Oregon primary.

But Clinton won Kentucky's primary by a large margin and vowed to fight on. "I'm more than determined than ever to see that every vote is cast and every ballot is counted," she said.

Obama emerged victorious in the Democratic presidential primary in the northwestern state of Oregon, which has 52 delegates at stake, US television networks said.

Earlier, Clinton won a decisive victory in the southeastern state of Kentucky, which has 51 delegates at stake.

With all the votes counted in Kentucky and most of the votes counted in Oregon, Obama has won 1,649 pledged delegates, surpassing the 1,627 needed to claim a majority.

Overall, he has 1,956 delegates, including super-delegates, out of 2,026 needed to secure the Democratic nomination to take on presumptive Republican candidate John Mccain. Clinton has won 1,497 pledged delegates.

"We have returned to Iowa with a majority of delegates elected by the American people," Obama told cheering supporters in Iowa, scene of this year's first presidential candidate selection contest.

"You have put us within reach of the Democratic nomination for president of the United States," he said while commending Clinton for "her courage, her commitment and her perseverance."

The Democratic Party's presidential candidate will be chosen by party delegates at the Democratic National Convention in August in Denver.