President Obama's reelection campaign took Ohio and thus the election shortly after 8:13 p.m., NBC News reported.

Mitt Romney won in contentious and important states such as North Carolina and Arizona, but once the projections had Ohio and its potent electoral votes in Obama's corner, it appeared to be over.

He appears to be staying on as the 44th president of the United States:

While the popular vote was expected to be close, the president's team carved up American demographics with deft skill, tapping New Jersey voters impressed by his response to hurricane Sandy, Latinos in Florida unhappy with Romney's stance on immigration, and Ohioans and Michaganders impressed with Obama's self-proclaimed savior of the auto industry.

California was never even a question, with major networks giving the Golden State's left-leaning vote and its 55 electoral votes to Obama shortly after 8 p.m.

Credit: White House

Credit: White House

[Added at 8:33 p.m.]: Note that, despite the deft demographic campaigning noted above, Florida hasn't been called yet. Republicans claim that Ohio is too close to call, too.

The race seemed to pit classic Democratic values, that government can and will create a safety net for its people and “pump prime” the economy, versus Reagan-era Republican arguments that less taxes mean more jobs.

What's more, Romney accused the president of doing too little to spark job growth while Obama painted the Republican as an “outsourcer in chief” during his time atop the asset management firm Bain Capital.

The people have spoken? We'll keep you updated.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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