WASHINGTON – George W. Bush closed in on a second term in the White House early this morning as he rode support for his handling of the war on terrorism and the loyalty of conservative voters to hold off a determined Democratic challenge.

Bush, 58, edged toward victory over Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry by holding a narrow but persistent lead in the key state of Ohio and defeating his rival in Florida.

The Associated Press reported early today that Bush held a 125,000-vote lead in Ohio, but that the number of provisional ballots is believed to exceed Bush’s lead.

Bush moved into the lead at the end of a bitterly fought campaign that both energized and polarized the nation. Voters repeatedly told pollsters they regarded the election as one of the most important of their lifetimes, and they behaved accordingly, turning out in numbers that far exceeded recent presidential contests.

Despite the harsh tone of the campaign, longtime adviser Karen Hughes said Bush would try to bring the country together in a second term.

“He will work very hard to do that,” she told CNN. “A second term would bring a renewed commitment to reach out … to Democrats. I know that he worries about the very polarized atmosphere in Washington.”

Repeating the patterns of four years ago, the president again held sway in the South, Great Plains and Rocky Mountain states.

Kerry, 60, repeated the Demo- cratic victories of 2000 in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states and the West Coast. He won easily in New York and New Jersey, two states the Republicans did not seriously contest, and also carried Pennsylvania, which Bush visited repeatedly in hopes of winning.

But Kerry’s once-bright hopes for the White House apparently foundered in Ohio despite his frequent campaign visits there and a massive Democratic effort to register and turn out the party’s voters. Kerry also fell short in Florida in spite of a major effort to win there.

Bush rolled up his state victories despite strong voter doubts about the course of the war in Iraq and apprehension about job losses the economy suffered under his watch. His successes were built on two main pillars.

Bush cemented the loyalty of core Republican voters by never wavering from a conservative agenda of tax cuts, less government regulation and opposition to same-sex marriage and late-term abortions. And he convinced many voters that his tough approach to combating terrorism was essential in the wake of the devastating attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

He repeatedly derided Kerry as irresolute and vacillating, especially on national security issues. Several analysts said throughout the campaign that voters’ perception of the president as tough on terror kept him afloat in the face of Iraq and the economy.

Bush sought to erase the taint attached to his victory in 2000, when he lost the popular vote to Democratic nominee Al Gore but won in the Electoral College after a 37-day legal struggle over Florida that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nationally Tuesday, Kerry did well among independents and won a large majority of younger voters, according to interviews with those leaving the polls.

Bush was running better among Hispanic voters than he had in 2000, although he still trailed Kerry with that group. There was no evidence that Bush had improved his standing with Jewish voters, who traditionally vote Democratic, according to surveys.

Once again, according to the survey, religious commitment was a major indicator of preference, with Bush preferred by those who worship regularly and Kerry by voters identified as less religious.

Election officials predicted a national turnout of 117.5 million to 121 million people, the most ever and rivaling the 1960 election in the percentage of eligible voters going to the polls.

Even before Election Day, both sides had mobilized teams of lawyers in preparation for the possibility of protracted battles in close states. As of Tuesday night, no major rows had erupted.

Bush spent election night in the White House with 25 to 30 relatives and friends, according to White House spokesman Scott McClellan. They included his father, former President George H.W. Bush, and his mother, Barbara Bush. They dined at a family buffet and then watched the returns on televisions set up in the residential part of the mansion.

The tight race left partisans of the candidates on pins and needles as they awaited results. At the president’s planned victory celebration at the Ronald Reagan Building near the White House, Bush fans listened to country-western bands and kept up their hopes.

Bush and Kerry waged the longest and most expensive presidential campaign in the country’s history.

Yet, even after the polls opened, the two candidates kept scrapping for votes. Kerry visited a local campaign headquarters in La Crosse, Wis., and beamed TV interviews by satellite into swing states from his hometown of Boston.

Senior adviser Joe Lockhart said the Wisconsin stop was scheduled to take advantage of the fact that the state permits same-day registration. Kerry himself reminded the gathering of about 250 volunteers of that, saying, “No such thing as ‘I didn’t register, I can’t vote.’”

Bush stopped in Columbus, Ohio, to encourage volunteers working on voter turnout. He had planned to do interviews with four Florida TV stations but had to cancel them because overcast weather prevented the satellite linkup.