Democrat Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States, becoming the first African-American President in history with his victory over Republican candidate John McCain. CNN and NBC called the election for Obama, who captured 338 electoral votes to McCain’s 163 electoral votes as of 2:00am Wednesday morning.
Obama has served in the United States Senate since 2005, representing Illinois. He was a member of the Illinois State Senate from 1997 to 2004.
His running mate, Joe Biden, represented Delaware in the United States Senate for 36 years. In the weeks leading up to the election, Obama held a convincing lead in early polls, but saw a rally from McCain as November 4th drew nearer.
Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster spoke to the lbpost.com from his Measure I party at the LB Airport Marriot, following John McCain’s concession speech.
“You can’t help but feel bad for (McCain), and he is a national hero,” said Mayor Foster. “But I’m really glad that we’ve finally got a change in leadership. I’m glad we’ve finally gotten over this ridiculous idea that America can’t elect an African-American president.”
Mayor Foster originally endorsed Obama back in February.
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor