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n a hotly contested election with numerous ups and downs, the final Electoral College vote has come in showing that President Barack Obama has won re-election. It was an incredible election with more than a billion dollars spent by both candidates and SuperPACs.

“We may have battled fiercely but it’s only because we love this country deeply,” Obama said after the results were announced. “The task of perfecting our Union moves forward.”

Jubilation and celebration were seen as Democrats in Chicago heard the news that Ohio’s results were declared to be for Obama, clinching the Electoral College. Democratic watch parties throughout Wichita were also enthused when they heard the news.

Romney conceded the election, saying he believed in the people of America and wished the nation good luck. “I wish all of them well, particularly the president, the first lady and their daughters,” Romney said to his supporters.

The election started off more than a year ago in reality, with a series of hard fought primaries for Gov. Romney. His series of fights against fellow Republican challengers such as Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich forced him to make his case that he was a very conservative candidate. 

Some pundits, such as Fox News contributor Juan Williams, believe that it was this pull to the right that cost Romney in the general election since he alienated minority groups.

The election then truly began after the first debate, as Obama’s debate against Romney was considered overwhelmingly poor. Obama began to regain ground though after he performed much better in the next series of debates and was perhaps helped by the federal government’s response to Hurricane Sandy.

Ohio was considered the key to either party’s chances to victory and it came down to a razor thin finish of just barely over 50,000 votes by press time. It is likely that lawsuits and challenges could still come up in the future before the next president is decided though.

There were also several important elections going on throughout the night for the House of Representatives and for the Senate. The Democrats were celebrating early in the night when predictions held that they would be able to hold onto the Senate, albeit by a slim majority.

While Republicans lost many of their races they can enjoy the fact that they will continue to control the House. This will create a unique situation where the federal government will essentially remain unchanged in terms of party control.

The next four years will be difficult to tell as Obama and the next Congress will have to navigate a dangerous fiscal cliff, record debts, end of two wars, and trying to leave the Great Recession behind.