Introducing President Trump.

The election for the next President of the United States was called just before 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, with Republican candidate Donald J. Trump securing enough electoral votes to assume the role in January.

An unexpected republican nominee, Trump rode a wave of support from voters seeking change and willing to accept a candidate loose with facts and accused of sexual misconduct, The Associated Press reported early Wednesday morning. In a victory that rattled financial markets worldwide before recovering the next day, he upset Democrat Hillary Clinton, who would have become the first woman to serve in the Oval Office.

Addressing his supports at his victory party in New York City early Wednesday morning, Trump asked the nation to come together, promising to “represent every citizen of our land.”

He said it is “time for America to bind the wounds of division” that his administration will be a time of “national growth and renewal.”

Carolyn Hall Fisher, chair of the Forsyth County Republican Party and a delegate at this year’s Republican National Convention, said she was excited for the results and credited the of work supporters in the campaign and on Election Day.

“It was absolutely a wonderful thing to watch the American people take their country back,” she said. “I’m so proud of Forsyth County because we voted for Donald Trump big time … Cobb County flipped and went blue and so did Gwinnett. and we just got stronger.”

Republicans maintained their control over a large majority of state legislature across the country, setting the GOP up to enact conservative policies and potentially cement its political power for years to come.

Tuesday’s results show Republicans will control at least as many legislative chambers as they do now — 68 out of 99 — an all-time high for the party.

They will also have full control of 33 legislatures, up from 31.

In an emotional concession speech, Clinton, who won the popular vote throughout the nation, said her crushing loss was “painful and it will be for a long time” and acknowledged that the nation was “more divided than we thought.”

Still, Clinton was gracious in defeat, declaring: “Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.”

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Forsyth backs Trump

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The theme throughout Forsyth and Georgia in the voting booths was to support incumbents, as they swept the ballot.

District 27 state Sen. Michael Williams, who won his own re-election campaign on Tuesday, was an early supporter of Trump and co-chair of his campaign in the state. He echoed statements Trump made in his victory speech of bringing the country together after the decisive election.

“I think his leadership and what he’s done so far is going to help bring us together, and then we as a people need to be able to put our hurt feelings aside to focus on the greater good, which is our country moving forward,” he said.

Barbara Luth, the county’s supervisor of voter registrations and elections, said a total of 99,228 ballots were cast in Forsyth County, including 69,060 that were cast in advance.

“[Tuesday] went real well,” she said. “The voters were not complaining, they were very happy about everything. They finished up, the polls got here quickly afterward and closed down everything and got it in record time.”

It was an election that brought out 82.79 percent of registered voters in the county.

Trump carried Forsyth County, securing 71.73 percent of the votes, or 69,801 votes.

Clinton secured 24.07 percent, or 23,427 votes.

Libertarian Gary Johnson won 4.2 percent of the votes, or 4,086 votes.

“Even advance voting people weren’t waiting, and we got a lot of compliments on how that went. I’ll credit that to the great staff I have,” Luth said.

The 2012 presidential election brought out about 80 percent of Forsyth’s voters, with Republican candidate Mitt Romney earning about 80 percent of those votes.

In 2008, the last year with a non-incumbent president, 75,504 people, about 81 percent of the county’s registered voters, cast ballots. Republican candidate John McCain carried Forsyth with about 78 percent of the vote.

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Incumbents affecting Forsyth sweep local, state offices

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Five races affecting Forsyth County were contested other than for President.

U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson won his re-election campaign over Democrat Jim Barksdale, with 55.4 percent of the vote throughout the state; 75.2 percent of Forsyth County voted in Isakson’s favor.

Williams earned about 78.4 percent of votes for the state Senate seat, defeating Democratic challenger Daniel Blackman, who earned about 21.5 percent.

U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall won his bid for re-election over Democrat Rashid Malik for District 7. Woodall earned 60.5 percent of the state vote and 78.4 percent of the vote in Forsyth County.

Board of Education District 5 incumbent Nancy Roche trounced her democratic opponent, Anita Tucker, coming in with 79.8 percent of the vote in east Forsyth. Tucker won 20.2 percent.

In state House District 22, which covers a portion of west Forsyth and is largely in Cherokee County, incumbent Wes Cantrell won a decisive victory, earning 83.2 percent of the vote over Democratic challenger Oscar “Asghar” Hajloo. Cantrell won 72.7 percent of voters in Forsyth.

Forsyth County Democratic Party Chairwoman Wilma Turner was disappointed by the election but commended her party for being on the ballot.

“I am very disappointed that Anita [Tucker] didn’t do better,” she said. “We did not expect to win; it’s maybe not as close as we would have liked, but we were on the ballot, the Democrats are in Forsyth, we’re going to be here and we’ll do better next time.”

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— Kayla Robins, Kelly Whitmire, Isabel Hughes, Associated Press.