President Barack Obama Wins Election, Defeating Mitt Romney

Barack Obama secured a second term last night, defeating Republican candidate Mitt Romney in the US presidential election.

The first black president of the United States, Barack Obama, surpassed the 270 votes required in the electoral college to secure victory.

 

Barack Obama gave a speech in front of his supporters in Chicago following his re-election in which he said that he would discuss with Mitt Romney "where we can work together to move this country forward".  

Barack Obama was able to win despite disappointment from many over the economic performance of the US during his first term, an issue on which Mitt Romney campaigned hard.

The Democrat party was also able to keep their majority in the Senate which has been theirs since 2007. The Republicans, meanwhile, maintained control of the House of Representatives.

Many political pundits have opined that that will mean further gridlock, something prevalent during the first term of Barack Obama, due to the House and the president disagreeing on the majority of legislation.

In his victory speech, Barack Obama challenged the Republicans to work with him for a better America.



Florida's 29 electoral votes are still yet to be decided, but Barack Obama currently has 303 electoral votes compared to Mitt Romney's 206 and so has sealed victory.

The result is determined by the number of electoral votes won, 270 being the number required for victory. Those votes are given in rough proportion to population.

Symbolically and politically, however, the exact number of votes received by each candidate is considered important and that race is currently very close.

During his speech Barack Obama sent congratulations to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, the vice-presidential candidate for the Republicans, for their hard-fought campaign.

Barack Obama said: "We have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come."

Barack Obama stated that he would go back to the White House "more determined, and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do, and the future that lies ahead".

Barack Obama promised that he would work with Republican leaders in Congress to bring down the government's budget deficit, overhaul the tax code and improve the rules on immigration.

He said: "We are an American family and we rise and fall together as one nation."

Mitt Romney gave his post-election speech in Boston which was the base of his campaign. He congratulated Barack Obama saying that both he and Paul Ryan had "left everything on the field" and put everything into their campaign.

Talking about the economy, Mitt Romney said this wasn’t the time for "partisan bickering and political posturing", and Republicans and Democrats need to "put people before politics".

Mitt Romney said: "I so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction but the nation chose another leader and so I join with you to earnestly pray for [Barack Obama] and for this great nation."

Barack Obama was able to keep the presidency by hanging on to solid Democratic states and also securing several important swing states including Colorado, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia and Wisconsin. His tight win in Ohio, traditionally one of the closest swing states, sealed the victory.