By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington: President Barack Obama’s chances of winning a second White House term received a boost as he bagged the first big contested prize of the night in Pennsylvania, although other battleground states remained too close to call.
With the results from Tuesday’s hard fought most expensive US presidential election slowly trickling in major networks at 11 p.m. gave Obama 249 electoral votes to Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s 191 even as they remained locked in a tight race.
It takes 270 votes in the 538-member electoral college to win the White House.
In early results, Obama won his home state of Illinois as well as Romney’s home state of Massachusetts, where Romney was governor from 2003 to 2007.
Networks have also projected that Obama will win Wisconsin, the home of Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan, and New Hampshire, where Romney has a home and began his campaign.
There was no major upset as media reports projected the two rival contenders winning the states they were expected to win. The race remained tight in Florida, Ohio and Virginia, according to CNN.
Exit polls showed Obama has taken Vermont, Washington DC, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the winner-take-all elections in the states.
He will also win Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey and New York, according to CNN projections.
Romney won Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia. In 2008, President Obama lost in West Virginia by more than 13 percent but won in Indiana by 1 percent.
Romney will also win Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming, CNN projected.
Maine awards electoral votes by congressional district. Obama has won three out of four in the state, with the final not yet called.
Of all the states thus far called, only Indiana switched hands since 2008, when Obama narrowly won it.
CNN also projected Republicans will maintain majority in the US House of Representatives, which they currently control by 242-193.