President Obama won a second term shortly before 8:30 p.m. after keeping nearly all the states he won in his 2008 election.

Once the president was projected to win Ohio, a battleground state with 18 electoral votes, and Iowa, with six electoral college votes, the president had secured more than the 270 votes required to win another four-year term.

“The task of perfecting our union moves forward,” Obama said in a victory speech in Chicago.  “We are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation.”

Romney thanked his family and his running mate, Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan, his campaign staff and supporters for both his presidential campaign and his failed run in 2008.

“This is a time of great challenges for America and I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation,” Romney said during his concession speech in Boston.  “Our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people’s work.  We look to Democrats and Republicans in government at all levels to put the people before the politics.”

Earlier in the day during a visit to a local campaign office in his hometown of Chicago, the president congratulated Romney on “a spirited campaign.” Obama said he was “confident we’ve got the votes to win, that it’s going to depend ultimately on whether those votes turnout.”

Romney campaigned with running mate Ryan in Ohio, the archetypal swing state that played a central role again this year.

“You know intellectually I’ve felt we’re going to win this and have felt that for some time,” Romney told reporters prior to flying back to his Boston campaign headquarters. “We left nothing in the locker room. We fought to the very end.”

Obama struck an optimistic tone after running a tough campaign.

“We know in our hearts, that, for the United States of America, the best is yet to come,” Obama said.

The economy and jobs were the overwhelming concerns of American voters, with nearly 8 percent unemployment on election day a slightly higher rate than when Obama took office.

The turning point, by all accounts, came Oct. 3, in Denver, when the two men met onstage for the first time. One of the largest TV debate audiences in history magnified the importance of the event, as did subsequent media coverage, virtually all of it highly favorable to Romney.

But Obama closed the gap in the final weeks of the campaign. An October surprise, in the form of one of the fiercest coastal storms to strike the mid-Atlantic in memory, allowed Obama to step away from the campaign grind and back into his role as president.

McClatchy news services reporter Paul West contributed to this story.

2012 Presidential Election

President Barack Obama was re-elected to a second term in office in the 2012 presidential race against Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Here’s a brief look at what citizens were saying on Nov. 6.

Storified by Daily Sundial · Tue, Nov 06 2012 22:59:18