Obama re-elected as president of the United States

President Barack Obama speaks at his election night party Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Chicago. President Obama defeated Republican challenger former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
President Barack Obama speaks at his election night party Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Chicago. President Obama defeated Republican challenger former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

— President Barack Obama won re-election Tuesday night despite a fierce challenge from Mitt Romney as well as a weak economy and high unemployment that crimped the middle-class dreams of millions.

“This happened because of you. Thank you,” he tweeted to supporters as he secured four more years in the White House.

Both candidates were tied at 49 percent in the popular vote as of 11 p.m. CST, however Obama led with 290 electoral votes to Romney's 200.

Obama carried Wisconsin, Oregon, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, Minnesota, California, Washington, Hawaii and Romney's home state of Massachusetts. Also, as expected, he won Delaware and Maryland as well as the District of Columbia and Illinois.

Romney had Utah, Mississippi, Arkansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Louisiana, South Dakota, North Dakota, North Carolina, Idaho, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Kentucky and West Virginia in his column. He also won Indiana, a state Obama carried in 2008 but did not contest this year.

We'll update this story as more information becomes available.

Read more in tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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