President Obama Wins Re-Election
President Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, has been declared the victor of the 2012 election over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney after a historically expensive and incredibly hard-fought campaign.
While the popular margin of victory was relatively narrow -- Obama earned 50% compared to Romney's 48% according to the Associated Press -- the President handily won the electoral college, sweeping almost all of the swing states on which the election typically hinges.
Major news outlets began calling the election in President Obama's favor at about 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, once early returns suggested that he would win Ohio, essentially mathematically eliminating Romney from contention.
President Obama is looking ahead at another tough four years of presidency, faced with unemployment still hovering just below 8% and a still Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which, if the last term is any example, will likely make compromise difficult in terms of furthering his political agenda.
More than an hour and a half after the AP called the race for President Obama, Romney took the stage at his campaign headquarters in Boston, congratulating the president and promising to "pray for him".
In his victory speech, President Obama noted the hard work ahead of him, and declared his intention to advance a potent political agenda, touching on issues such as immigration reform, climate change, oil independence, and economic recovery.
Watch President Barack Obama's entire victory speech from PBS NewsHour: