At last, Obama wins Florida

With almost all ballots in Florida counted, U.S. media have projected President Barack Obama the winner in that state five days after he won Tuesday's national election. Florida brings his total of electoral votes to 332 versus 206 for Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Florida was the last state where the outcome was in doubt because three counties were still counting ballots. Obama had 50.01 percent of the vote in Florida compared with 49.13 percent for Romney, with nearly all ballots counted, according to figures from the Florida Secretary of State's Office. The president's lead stood at nearly 74,000 votes. CNN projected that Obama would win Florida. NBC and the Associated Press also were among the media outlets that called the state for Obama based on the latest tally. Also in Florida, Tea Party-backed U.S. Representative Allen West, the firebrand Republican lawmaker known for his blistering attacks on Obama and other Democrats, lost his re-election bid, according to the state's latest vote tally on Saturday. With the victory in Florida, Obama swept all of the battleground states, with the exception of North Carolina, which he won narrowly in 2008. The Democratic Party in...