President Barack Obama defeats Romney to win re-election

Latest Analysis Mardell In pictures Senate races World impact Foreign policy challenges Barack Obama: "I have never been more hopeful" Continue reading the main story US Presidential Election 2012 Vote updatesLive Democrats hold Senate World impact States approve same-sex marriage President Barack Obama has been re-elected to a second term, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney. America's first black president secured more than the 270 votes in the electoral college needed to win. In his victory speech before supporters in Chicago, Mr Obama said he would talk to Mr Romney about "where we can work together to move this country forward". Mr Obama prevailed despite lingering dissatisfaction with the economy and a hard-fought challenge by Mr Romney. His Democrats also retained their majority in the Senate, which they have held since 2007. Continue reading the main story 303 OBAMA 206 ROMNEY California 55Colorado 9Connecticut 7District of Colombria 3Delaware 3Hawaii 4Iowa 6Illinois 20Massachusetts 11Maryland 10Maine 4Michigan 16Minnesota 10New Hampshire 4New Jersey 14New Mexico 5Nevada 6New York 29Ohio 18Oregon 7Pennsylvania 20Rhode Island 4Virginia 13Vermont 3Washington 12Wisconsin 10Alaska 3Alabama 9Arkansas 6Arizona 11Georgia 16Idaho 4Indiana 11Kansas 6Kentucky 8Louisiana 8Missouri 10Mississippi 6Montana 3North Carolina 15North Dakota 3Nebraska 5Oklahoma 7South Carolina 9South Dakota 3Tennessee 11Texas 38Utah 6West Virginia 5Wyoming 3270 to win Results in full The Republicans kept control of the House of Representatives, which analysts say will likely result in more of the gridlock that characterised Mr Obama's first term, with the House and the president at loggerheads on most legislation. In his address, the president challenged his opponents, asking them to work with him. With only Florida's 29 electoral votes still undecided, Mr Obama won 303 electoral votes to Mr Romney's 206. The popular vote, which is symbolically and politically important but not decisive in the race, remains very close. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote Both candidates said this was a choice of two visions - America has chosen ” Mark Mardell North America editor Read more from Mark 'One nation' speech Mr Obama congratulated Mr Romney and Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan on their hard-fought campaign. "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," he said. Mr Obama said he was returning to the White House "more determined, and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do, and the future that lies ahead". He pledged to work with Republican leaders in Congress to reduce the government's budget deficit, fix the tax code and reform the immigration system. "We are an American family and we rise and fall together as one nation," he said. In Boston, where his campaign was based, Mr Romney congratulated the president and said he and Mr Ryan had "left everything on the field" and had given their all in the campaign. Continue reading the main story US media reaction Thomas L Friedman of the New York Times writes: "No one can know for sure what complex emotional chemistry tipped this election Obama's way… it came down to a majority of Americans believing that whatever his faults, Obama was trying his hardest to fix what ails the country." Dan Balz of the Washington Post says: "Tuesday's election produced an uncertain mandate, although Obama will attempt to claim one. Obama offered a plan, but not one that deals directly with some of the problems he will have to confront immediately." A Wall Street Journal opinion piece read: "[Obama] said little during the campaign about his first term and even less about his plans for a second. Instead his strategy was to portray Mitt Romney as a plutocrat… it worked with brutal efficiency - the definition of winning ugly." Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times writes: "If we're lucky, we will find that we elected a different Obama from the one who won four years ago - not just a grayer Obama but a wiser one too." Referring to the struggling economy, Mr Romney said now was not the time for "partisan bickering and political posturing", and thatRepublicans and Democrats must "put people before politics". "I so wish that I had been able to fulfil 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 [Mr Obama] and for this great nation," he said. Under the US constitution, each state is given a number of electoral votes in rough proportion to its population. The candidate who wins 270 electoral votes - by prevailing in the mostly winner-takes-all state contests - becomes president. On Tuesday, the president held the White House by assembling solid Democratic states and a number of important swing states such as Colorado, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia and Wisconsin. His narrow victory in Ohio, a critical Mid-Western swing state, sealed the victory.