After eighteen months campaigning, three presidential debates, and one vice presidential debate, America has finally made a decision. On Tuesday, November 8, Americans came out to vote for their president and state representatives.

Donald John Trump won the presidential election with 290 promised electoral votes. The candidate needed 270 to win. Trump will become our next president and Mike Pence will serve as vice president. Trump won’t take office until January 2017. Over the course of Trump’s campaign, he discussed many topics: immigration, health care, the economy, civil liberties, the environment, education, national security, veterans, and energy. After finding out about the results at 3 a.m. (EST) on November 9, 2016, Trump gave his victory speech. In the beginning of his speech, he stated that Hillary Clinton gave him a call congratulating him on the win. He also congratulated her and her family on the hard-fought campaign. He pledged to every citizen he will be their president and for those that didn’t support him, Trump said he will look for their guidance. He believes that the nation as one “will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and renewing the American dream”. To him, anything in America’s future is not out of reach. America’s dreams will be big, bold, and daring. During his victory speech, he thanked his parents, his brother Robert, his family, his staff, etc. Closing off his speech, he said Pence and himself will start working immediately, and he is honored to be America’s next president. 

Along with the presidential election, there were many things America voted on. In one of these elections, America voted for senators; Republicans took control of the Senate with 51 seats (Democrats have 48).  Another election was for seats in the House of Representatives, in which the Republicans took the majority with 239 seats (Democrats have 192). In the gubernatorial elections, twelve governorships were available. The Democratic Party took five states: Delaware (John Carney), Montana (Steve Bullock), Oregon (Kate Brown), Washington (Jay Inslee), and West Virginia (Jim Justice). The Republican Party took six states: North Dakota (Doug Burgum), Vermont (Phil Scott), Indiana (Eric Holcomb), New Hampshire (Chris Sununu), Missouri (Eric Greitens), and Utah (Gary Herbert). North Carolina has still not decided. California was one of the thirty-five states that voted by referendum; California had to vote on seventeen referenda. Out of the seventeen, Californians voted yes on thirteen propositions and no on four.

California, out of many states, had to vote for propositions for the state. Out of the 17 propositions, Californians voted yes on twelve and no on four. One of the propositions that passed, bans plastics bags throughout California (Prop. 67). Proposition 64 was passed, legalizing marijuana. Californians voted no on Proposition 62, which repeals the death penalty. Proposition 66 is also on the death penalty, however this one changes the death penalty procedures by speeding the entire process, requiring attorneys to work on the death penalty cases; this proposition was passed. Proposition 56 was also passed by Californians. Prop 56 increases the cigarette tax by $2.00 per cigarette pack, with equal increases on other tobacco products and electronic cigarettes. The total tobacco tax is now up to $2.87 per pack of cigarettes. Mr. Launius’ government classes voted on multiple propositions, including all those stated above, on election day; each student received an “I voted” sticker for their participation.

After many months of anticipation, the wait is finally over. Donald John Trump is expected to be our next president and Mike Pence, our next vice president. The Republicans control Congress and lead with 6 gubernatorial wins against the Democratic party’s 5 gubernatorial wins.