State Republicans said they finally felt a sense of closure after a hard-fought campaign following Democratic challenger John Kerry's concession speech on Wednesday afternoon.
But Bush failed to carry Michigan, a state that hasn't courted a Republican president since 1988, when Bush's father beat Democratic challenger Michael Dukakis by an 8 percent margin.
"We knew last night we had enough electoral votes, but it's nice to have it official," said John Truscott, Michigan spokesman for the Bush campaign.
"It's good to know we won't have to be shipped out to Ohio for a recount," he said.
Michigan is a tough state for a Republican to win, Truscott said, but the camp came very close. He said Kerry had presumptuously assumed he would win the state and had to scramble in the final campaign hours to regain lost ground.
"The Kerry camp spent money and resources here that they didn't plan to spend," Truscott said. "Even though we didn't win for the president here, we contributed to a win in other close states, like Ohio."
The real winners in the race are the American people, said U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton. He said the country and the world needed closure on the contest in order for the nation to move forward.
"With all of the challenges we face, it's great to know the campaign is over and governing in a new term can begin," Rogers said.
He added he knew that if the economy turned around, Bush would be re-elected. And while the incumbent took the overall race, he lost Michigan because the economy didn't rebound the way it did in states like Ohio.
"That was the single issue that cost him Michigan," he said. "I'm going to remind him of that quite frequently when I get back to Washington."
Even with Kerry closing two electoral votes behind President Bush early Wednesday and then conceding Ohio, the Democratic Party still remains in high spirits.
"We felt we did our job," said Paul Pratt, chairman of the Ingham County Democratic Party. "It feels good, but it's disappointing that our country will have to endure four more years of Bush."
The Democratic Party carried Ingham County, Pratt said.
"By re-electing county-wide department heads and returning all legislators to the state Capitol, we fared well in this election," he said. "Bob Alexander carried the county against Mike Rogers and Kerry received Michigan."
Democrats have been losing seats in Congress since 1994, but not because of lost support, Pratt said.
Kerry's early concession wasn't surprising, given that Bush had already sealed the Ohio vote, Pratt said.
"Even with the provisional ballots, Kerry would not have won," he said.
