Romney stays out of spotlight as Obama returns to White House

After news that President Barack Obama had been re-elected for a second term, defeating GOP nominee Mitt Romney for the presidency, the former Massachusetts governor stayed out of the spotlight, avoiding media, the AP reported. 

The Associated Press, along with various other news sources called the election in Obama's favor, after he was projected to win the key battleground state of Ohio. 

Obama then posted on his twitter account:

However, Romney was conspicuously absent after the projections were announced in Obama's favor.

The AP wrote that Romney staffers all expressed shock that so many states had voted for Obama.

In a moving video by BBC News, Romney supporters expressed sorrow that their candidate had not won the presidency.  

The Washington Post reported that Romney had not drafted a concession speech.  

“Intellectually I’ve felt we’re going to win this and have felt that for some time,” he said. However, he agreed that there was a chance that things wouldn't go his way.

"Nothing is certain in politics," he said, the Washington Post reported.  

Karl Rove, for one, was incredulous after Fox News called the election in Obama's favor, the New York Times reported. “We’ve got to be careful about calling this when we have 991 votes separating the candidates,” he scolded them. “I’d be very cautious about intruding into this process.”

The New York Times reported that the United States's decision to reelect Obama gives him "another four years to put in place policies that he had argued would continue to move the country along to economic recovery."

The AP also reported that according to projections, Democrats are expected to maintain control over the Senate, while Republicans will have majority in the House of Congress. 

For GlobalPost's full election day coverage, including reports on Senate and House wins, visit the live blog.