2008 election makes history
By Jaclyn Dillman | Feature Editor
As minutes ticked into hours, results of the highly anticipated national, state and local elections began to pour in.
In a landslide victory, Democratic nominees Barack Obama and Joe Biden claimed the titles president and vice president of the United States, respectively. The Obama campaign received a staggering 349 Electoral College votes to Republican nominees John McCain and Sarah Palin’s 163. Obama was declared president-elect around 11 p.m. on Nov. 4, exceeding the required 270 electoral votes.
Six states were declared battleground states in the election, Indiana among them. Other battleground states this year include: Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina and Florida. Obama claimed victory of Indiana’s Electoral College votes. This is the first time Indiana has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee since 1964.
Obama will be the first African- American president of the United States of America, making this a historical election. President Obama has spoken on his plans to reform health care and education in our nation. He plans to address the economic situation of our country as well as the war in Iraq as priorities when he takes office.
In elections for the U.S. House of Representatives, nine seats were available for Indiana representatives. Of those nine, five districts elected the Democrat nominee and four-elected Republican. In Marion County (District 7), Democrat Andre Carson was elected to represent by nearly 80,000 more votes than Republican opponent Gabrielle Campo.
The House of Representative will remain under Democratic control. Two- hundred-eighteen seats are needed to control the house, and the Democrats currently control 254 seats, while Republicans hold 173. The United States Senate will also remain under Democratic control. Democratic senators represent 56 states, and 40 have Republican representation. Fifty-one seats are needed for a party to control the Senate.
Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels was re-elected as Indiana’s governor on Nov. 4. Daniels defeated Democrat opponent Jill Long Thompson in the vast majority of Indiana counties, claiming victory by nearly half a million votes.
Daniels plans to look into finishing a permanent cap on property tax rates for Hoosiers. He also plans to look into many reforms in the educational system of Indiana.
This historic election has had a unprecedented turn out of voters. More than 128.5 million people are estimated to have turned out to vote in this election which broke the record for highest number of voters.
