Millions of Americans flocked to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 6 to cast their votes in this year’s election, but after a close battle, President Barack Obama was re-elected to serve our country in a second term.

As of Wednesday, Nov. 7 morning, Obama secured 303 electoral votes to Mitt Romney’s 206. Only 270 electoral votes are needed to claim victory, a number that Obama claimed last night. Florida has yet to declare where their 29 remaining electoral votes will go, but with Obama having more than the required 270 electoral votes, his victory has already been claimed, according to election results from the Associated Press (AP).

“[Obama’s] got a challenge facing him,” said Tom Baldini, adjunct professor in the political science department. “He has to bring a divided country together.”

America proved itself to be divided with the results from the popular vote. The percentage of voters who chose Obama was 50.34 percent to Romney’s 48.1 percent. Obama claimed victory in 25 states, including Michigan and the District of Columbia while Romney won 24, according to AP.

Although there certainly is disappointment amongst Republicans, Justin Bis, NMU College Republican, hopes for the best in the next four years.

“Overall, we’re just proud of the work we did,” Bis said. “We wish the best for the president in the next four years. We wish the best for him and our country.”

According to Baldini, when Obama became president in 2008, he was left with the results of the Bush administration and what it had done to our economy.

He said that Obama laid the groundwork for recovering the economy through gradual growth.

“I think we forget the hand he was dealt when he came into office,” Baldini said.

According to Baldini, Obama has worked for the people by establishing his healthcare reform and also by trying to reduce our energy dependency on foreign countries.

The Political Science and Public Administration departments is hosting a Wrap-Up and Analysis of the Election at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 8 in Jamrich 101.

William Ball, professor in the political science department, and Baldini will be there to provide commentary on how the election went as well as talk about numbers and trends went into this year’s election.

For more information, contact Baldini at (906) 225-1825 or [email protected]. ­