By Sami Lachgar, News Editor

Election Day marks the end of a tremendous trek which tests mental endurance and prowess. At 11:18 Tuesday night, news organizations announced that President Barack Obama has retained his position as the head of state. After both candidates combined to spend a flabbergasting $2.6 billion in the battle for the White House, Mitt Romney’s fight was in vain after Obama took several important battleground states.

“I think election night is probably the second most exciting night of the year after Christmas Eve,” said Reynolds High School junior Liz Wallace, a Democratic supporter. ” Forget the Super Bowl—this is real life.”

Romney’s hope for taking the White House included winning battleground states such as Ohio,  Florida and Virginia. Obama, however, reached enough votes in the electoral college count that when news organizations called Ohio for Obama, it put the president over the magic number of 270 for re-election. More than an hour after the election was called for Obama, Romney had not delivered a concession speech, therefore delaying Obama’s celebration.

North Carolina, which went for Obama in 2008, voted for Romney this year. Many in the Triad were disappointed in Obama’s national victory.

“It’s a shame that America has chosen to stick with the policies that have already failed us,” Reynolds junior Dustin Sneed said. “I really thought that Romney was going to do a better job in bringing our nation together.”

Most Americans will be looking forward to more than just four years where they don’t have to listen to the incessant droning of political advertisements. Citizens are ready for new policies made to better society, hopeful that partisanship will not hinder these efforts.

Obama is immediately faced with more leeway when making policies, no longer bonded by the fear that if he makes a mistake that he may not be elected to a second term. However, the Senate still has not reached the 60-40 Democratic majority to override a filibuster. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives and only slightly Democratic Senate seem to have created a stalemate during Obama’s last term that he will have to overcome to achieve anything in his second four years.

This partisan division has hindered the passage of many important bills, as more than 200 have been filibustered in Obama’s first term alone compared to four during the Dwight Eisenhower era.

“I imagine it will be even harder for him to get things done seeing as the House is Republican and the Senate is only slightly Democratic,” Wallace said. “I think we’ll likely see more political gridlock unless Congress can learn to work in a bipartisan manner.”

Feelings like these are shared across the nation as uncertainty still grips major topics such as the economy, immigration and health care. Additionally, Obama may be able to create a shift in the Supreme Court. Three justices are faced with choices about retiring in the next four years, and the Democratic president could ensure that those seats are filled by liberal-leaning justices for life.

“People are only concerned with the presidential race, but the truth is Congressional races may be more important this election cycle,” Wallace said.