WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kerry refuses to concede despite President Bush's lock on at least 274 Electoral College votes, Bush's seemingly insurmountable leads in Iowa and New Mexico that would push that total higher, his nearly 3.5 million lead in the popular vote and his achievement of winning a clear majority of the national vote.
By refusing to issue the traditional concession speech, Kerry appeared to be banking on a challenge of the vote in Ohio, where Bush leads by more than 100,000 votes.
The president won Florida comfortably yesterday, a state whose results were contested for weeks in the last election cycle, ending in a Supreme Court ruling to call a halt to further recounts.
Bush's win in Ohio was another key to his victory.
The Kerry campaign has not yet accepted that Bush won Ohio, pointing out there are about 175,000 provisional votes to be considered – ballots cast by people who were not on voter rolls or had other problems with voting in a conventional manner.
Bush was leading in the popular vote nationwide by a 51 to 48 percent margin.
The Republicans added icing to the Election Day cake by padding their control of the House of Representative and the U.S. Senate.
A record number of Americans were expected to vote. Officials forecast an estimated 117.5 million to 121 million people would cast votes – 58 to 60 percent of eligible voters.
Bush's predictable win in Alaska clinched 269 electoral votes for Bush, one shy of the votes necessary to win the presidency outright. Bush later won Nevada, with five more votes. He is leading in New Mexico and Iowa.
Bush was declared the winner in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Kerry was declared the winner in California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin and Washington.
See electoral vote breakdown state by state.