Barack Obama ended his historic run for president with a landslide win Tuesday.
He will be the 44th president of the United States and the first black president in the nation's history.
Media outlets declared Obama the winner after a string of projected wins in battleground states including Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Iowa.
Obama's opponent, John McCain, conceded at about 9:30 p.m.
Obama won the popular vote with 52 percent to McCain's 47 percent and won the Electoral College by a margin not seen since President Clinton's 1996 win over Bob Dole.
Obama turned New Mexico blue, winning 57 percent of the state as of midnight Wednesday.
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"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible ... who still questions the power of democracy, tonight is your answer," Obama said in a speech Tuesday in Chicago. "It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who ... believed that this time must be different, that their voice could be that difference."
McCain congratulated Obama for encouraging what is anticipated to be a record voter turnout.
"The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly," he said. "(Obama) managed to (win) by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president. It is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving."
McCain urged his supporters to work with Obama and to not let defeat affect their judgment.
"I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him but offering our next president our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited," McCain said.
Vanessa Sanchez / Daily Lobo
Supporters of John McCain react to his concession
Tuesday at the Marriott Hotel.
"I really believe that it's time for the real people that live in this country to really become part of the democratic process," Aderhold said. "I don't feel as though a country being run by mostly white men was achieving that - we saw that in the last eight years with George Bush."
Junior Kimiya Green, who also attended the watch party at African American Student Services, said Obama's victory bodes well for the future of the country.
"He's a man of his word. I'm very proud of him, and I have faith in this man," Green said. "I'm not saying that everything's going to go well, but I believe in him."
Freshman Patrick Dylan, who is running for president of UNM's College Republicans, said Obama and McCain fought hard but that it's time to respect the president-elect.
"We have massive and total respect for Obama," Dylan said. "We hope that he will make the right decisions over the next four years. If he can cross the aisles and put the American people first and not his party, he will have my respect."
Sophomore Nick Autio said this election spells change for the U.S.
"America's come a long way from where it was 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago," Autio said. " ... It's good to see all these people come out and support Obama along with other Democratic candidates."
In his Chicago speech, Obama said his work as president will embody America's persistence and determination.
" ... Where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: 'Yes, we can,'" he said.
Abigail Ramirez, Pat Lohmann, Jesse Trujillo and Crystal Sanchez contributed to this report.
