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ANCHORAGE - Barack Obama and Mitt Romney easily won Alaska's caucuses on Tuesday in a state where voting was marked by subzero temperatures and overflowing crowds.

With 39 of 40 districts reporting, Obama was leading the Democratic race with 74 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton had 25 percent.

In the Republican presidential preference poll, Mitt Romney had a commanding lead over Mike Huckabee. With 30 of 40 districts reporting, or 75 percent, Romney had 44 percent of the vote. Mike Huckabee trailed with 22 percent, and Ron Paul was leading John McCain for third place

Democratic party leaders brought about 1,500 voter registration forms for those wishing to newly register or switch parties. But they needed another 1,000, party Chairwoman Patti Higgins said.

Chris Farrell, Obama's state caucus director, spent the last month in Alaska hoping to gain support for his candidate.

But Farrell was stunned at the bipartisan support.

"What surprised me the most was the Republicans, the independents and the undeclareds, switching their representation," Farrell said. "They told me they thought they would never vote Democrat before and they were switching for Obama. It's an inspiring thing."

One backer in Anchorage didn't need to switch.

"I like the feeling I get from him. It is time for a change. I don't want a manager anymore. I want a leader," said John Sorenson, a 60-year-old Anchorage resident.

Sorenson was among nearly 4,000 Anchorage Democrats who overcrowded the caucus site, a new middle school named for the last Democrat to represent the state in the U.S. House, Nick Begich. Begich served as Alaska's lone U.S representative until he died in a 1972 plane crash along with then-House Majority Leader Hale Boggs, D-La.

The previous record of voters for Anchorage's caucus was 254 voters in 2004, Higgins said.

There were so many voters, police threatened to tow cars.

Freezing temperatures and snow didn't keep Alaskans away from the polls in other parts of the state, either. In Juneau, the state's capital, Democrats trudged through more than 2 feet of new snow to mob Centennial Hall.

Teacher Cinda Stanek wasn't sure which line to stand in but she was there to cast her vote for Obama.

"I'm ready for a change. More than any other time I can remember I am excited for this presidential election," she said.

The temperature was minus 41 in Fairbanks on Tuesday night, but that also didn't dissuade voters from filling a community center for the Democratic caucus there. Police asked voters to move their cars off the streets.

Both Republican and Democratic candidates relied on grass root support for their campaigns. Only one presidential candidate, former Alaska U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel, campaigned in the state - making one speech in Anchorage last summer. He didn't receive any votes in Tuesday's primary.

Otherwise, the state only saw campaigning from the relatives of candidates, like one of Mitt Romney's sons and Huckabee's wife, both in the last week.

Alaska's Super Tuesday results are not the final word on the party's candidate choice, but rather a first step toward choosing delegates for this summer's national conventions.

Two factors make Alaska relevant this time: extremely tight presidential races in both political parties; and federal corruption investigations into U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and House Rep. Don Young.

The latter item remains secondary to caucuses, but it's stirred Democrats' hope rarely seen in a staunchly Republican state such as Alaska. It also has the GOP saying, not so fast, folks.

"In tight contests like these any state could be decisive," said John Pitney, a former researcher at the Republican National Committee who teaches government at Claremont McKenna College. "The fight for Republicans is to tamp down the Democratic gain with somebody who can prevent the big down draft."

The state is broken up into 40 House districts, but the similarities between the two parties' methods pretty much stop there.

For Democratic candidates, 18 national convention delegates are at stake. Alaska Democrats first send 411 delegates to its state convention in May, then elect its national delegates.

For the Republicans, there are 26 delegates at stake. First 550 delegates attend the state convention next month in Anchorage, where the 26 delegates get elected. They and three party officers will head to the summer's national convention.