U.S. President George W. Bush further cemented his re-election victory on Friday by picking up Iowa, becoming the first Republican to win the state since Ronald Reagan in 1984. As of Friday afternoon, Bush had 748,204 votes compared with Senator John Kerry's 734,341. Voting still continued, but U.S. media outlets projected Bush to be the winner in Iowa since outstanding ballots could no longer change the outcome. With Iowa in his win column, Bush has 286 votes in the Electoral College, compared with Kerry's 252. The total needed for victory is 270. Bush won the popular vote by about 3.5 million ballots. Iowa was the last state to report its presidential election results. It was one of three that were too close to call on election night. The other two, Ohio and New Mexico, also went for Bush. Kerry conceded Wednesday after it became clear that mathematically he could no longer win in Ohio, which put Bush above the 270 threshold needed to win in the Electoral College. The map of the Electoral College showed Republican states from Florida to Texas, throughout most of the Midwest and reaching up to the Canadian border. The Democrats won on the West Coast and in the Northeast as well as some states in the Midwest. --SP 0105 Local Time 2205 GMT
