Kerry concedes to Bush after closely contested race

By Kelly Griffith
Managing Editor

President George W. Bush won re-election in the presidential vote on Nov. 2 after much debate over Ohio’s 20 electoral votes.

After seven months of campaigning, Bush completed his campaign trail in Columbus, Ohio, and surrounded himself with family at the White House to hear the results.

Sen. John F. Kerry made a formal concession speech at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Mass. at 2 p.m. Nov. 3, after calling Bush at 11 a.m. to congratulate him on his victory.

“Congratulations, Mr. President,” Kerry said in his phone call, according to the Associated Press.

Kerry and Bush also discussed the division among American voters. The phone call lasted less than five minutes, the Associated Press said.

Bush made his victory speech in Washington at 3 p.m.

Vermont was the first state projected at 7:01 p.m. on Tuesday night, giving Kerry an immediate lead with three electoral votes. By the end of Tuesday, Bush led Kerry with 197 to 189 votes.

Kerry won in Pennsylvania.

New Hampshire changed from its vote four years ago, giving its four electoral votes to Kerry. The state gave the win to Kerry with only 9,171 votes over Bush, according to the numbers provided by CNN.

As of noon Nov. 3, Iowa, New Mexico and Ohio were the only states that had not reported their final tallies. Bush led the election 51.1 to Kerry's 48 percent of the popular vote, The New York Times said.

Iowa's ballots were left uncounted overnight due to technical difficulties on Tuesday evening, according to CBS News. New Mexico waited to name a winner because a large number of provisional ballots had to be counted. In Ohio, about 250,000 provisional ballots wait to be counted. Kerry's campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill, had said she was confident the votes would swing the state for the Democrats.

A record number of voters turned out as Americans decided to make their voices heard by the government. Many programs, such as MTV's “Choose or lose” and “Get out the vote,” sponsored by Declare Yourself, encouraged voters of all ages to join the election process.

The electorate’s decision comes after Al-Jazzera released a tape on Oct. 29 showing Osama Bin Laden alive and well three years after Bush called for his capture. Bush used the tape as evidence that Bin Laden plans to attack the United States again.