After months of campaigning, Barack Obama, Democrat, was re-elected as President of the United States on Tuesday night. 

            Obama’s 303 electoral votes outnumbered Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s 206 electoral votes, winning Obama a second term.

“[The union] moves forward because of you. It moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression, the spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of despair to the great heights of hope, the belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people,” Obama said in his acceptance speech.

Terry Geoghegan, government teacher, thought the race would be much closer than it really was.

“I was settling in for what I thought was going to be a long night, and when at about 10pm NBC announced that Obama was projected to win, I was really surprised,” Geoghegan said.

Romney needed to win multiple swing states to take the lead, and early polls projected that he would win several.  Ultimately, Romney only picked up West Virginia, with Obama winning the swing states of Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Colorado, New Hampshire, Nevada, and Iowa, according to CNN.

            “I felt bad for Romney because he truly believed in his soul that he would win this election,” Geoghegan said.

            Obama’s support mostly came from women, youth, people in urban centers, and minorities, according to CNN exit polls.  Illinois’ 20 electoral votes unsurprisingly went to Obama because Chicago’s urban population is heavily democratic.

            Illinois elected six Democrats and one Republican to the House of Representatives, although the Republicans retained control of the House nationally.  Democrats retained control of the Senate, but Illinois does not elect its Senators until 2014.