2012 Election Results: Winners & Losers

The 2012 election has happened. After more than a year and a half of debates and rallies, a flood of campaign spending that surged to more than $6 billion, hashtags like #bindersfullofwomen spreading across Twitter, the hours upon hours Americans spent standing in line to vote and thousands of attack ads blasting across swing-state airwaves, the election has finally happened.

We wish we could say it is over. But the final vote tallies in crucial states like Ohio and Florida could still take days -- if not longer. Under Ohio election law, provisional ballots cannot even be opened until 10 days after the polls close, and the final deadline for a count isn't until Nov. 27. This year, the number of Ohioans forced to vote provisionally is expected to have increased substantially.

Despite the prospect of a lengthy slog to officially certify the vote totals, one thing is certain: President Barack Obama has secured another term in the White House.

As the dust continues to clear, we at HuffPost have determined some of the 2012 cycle's biggest winners and losers: