Politics & Government

Election 2012: Barack Obama Re-Elected President

President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden defeat challengers Republican Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in the 2012 presidential election.

President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden were re-elected Tuesday night, defeating Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and his vice-presidential running mate Rep. Paul Ryan.

NBC News called the presidential election for Obama around 11:15 p.m. EST. The president sent a message on Twitter at 10:14 saying simply, "This happened because of you. Thank you."

The Obama campaign won the most expensive presidential race ever, with both parties raising about $2.6 billion. The race was filled with negative campaigning on both sides, from the president attacking Romney’s business experience with Bain Capital to Romney lambasting Obama’s handling of the economy.

The race tightened during the final months of the campaign, with gaffes and surges from both candidates.

After a weak performance after the Republican Convention, Romney surged following Obama’s listless performance after the first presidential debate. Nevertheless, the president cemented a lead in battleground states heading into Tuesday’s election.

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Obama won Pennsylvania, despite a last-ditch effort to sway voters by the Romney campaign that included a


Obama’s performance in Pennsylvania was not surprising, considering that the state's voters in 2008 voted Democratic. Nearly 3.3 million voters, or 55 percent, cast ballots for the Obama-Biden team that year.

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Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin earned nearly 2.7 million votes in 2008. According to statistics collected by the Pennsylvania Department of State, voter turnout tallied about 68.4 percent in 2008. 


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