In a historic race filled with controversies and unprecedented events, Donald Trump won the 2016 Presidential election, as of 12:37 a.m. Wednesday morning.

At the time of press, Trump had received 276 electoral votes according to the Associated Press, as of 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. AP called the election around 12:35 a.m. when results from Wisconsin were projected, pushing him over the 270 electoral votes needed to win.

Trump lost to Clinton in Colorado, only winning 44 percent of the popular vote. He won the key swing states of Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina. He lost in the key states of New York, California, and Illinois.

CNN had not yet called the election, waiting on results from Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Maine early Wednesday.

At 12:15 a.m., Hillary Clinton declared that she would not speak about the results of the election, and shortly after, Trump announced that he would take the stage at the Republican watch party in downtown Manhattan.

Trump’s win is significant as an established businessman and a non-traditional politician. At 70 years old, he is the oldest individual to be elected president. He will be the only president to take office without any prior experience in elected office.

During the election season, his campaign was surrounded by many controversies including sexual assault scandals and reports of tax evasion. His win was also unprecedented given the fact that Clinton was the projected winner by several news outlets.

The night of the election, the Associated Students of Colorado State University hosted an election watch party at the Lory Student Center. The party began in the Lory Student Center theater and then moved to the ASCSU Senate Chamber after 10 p.m. Although the majority of students who attended the party left after the event changed venues, 31 students stayed to watch for another hour.

As news of Trump’s mounting success was broadcasted throughout the evening, Democratic voters expressed their shock and disbelief as Republican voters vocally expressed their happiness as Trump won state after state.

Olivia Hernandez, undeclared freshman and Clinton supporter expressed her shock when she learned that Trump was close to winning the election.

“I didn’t think it was going to go this way,” Hernandez said.

Lindsey Adler, biology major and Clinton supporter also expressed her discontent.

“I am feeling disappointed and sad … I was shocked,” Adler said.

Patrick Byers, undeclared student and Trump supporter, also expressed his disbelief about the unprecedented nature of this election.

“I think this is a disgrace…these two candidates are playing this thing like a popularity contest in high school,” Byers said. “There is so much diversity between them, they’re not supporting the values of the American people. They are literally stabbing at each other for popularity … this is not holding the values of the American people.”

Alexis Swenson, business major and Clinton supporter said that regardless of the results of the election, it is best to treat all Americans with respect.

“If anything, this election teaches us that it’s important to be kind to one another,” Swenson said. “We have to work hard for what we want in life and we have to be kind and help one another out. No matter what happens with the results of this election it’s necessary to keep that in mind and to know that we’re all Americans and we love this country.”

Liam Aubrey, business major and Trump supporter expressed his thoughts about what a Trump presidency might look like.

“I don’t really know what to expect, honestly,” Aubrey said. “I think it’s going to be different, and that’s what I want … It’s not politics as usual in Washington.”

As the election came to a close, Aubrey expressed his happiness with Trump’s lead by saying, “This is unprecedented.

Justin Piefer, agricultural science major, said that he is glad that Trump is a businessman instead of a politician.

“If we look back over the past 20 years, the presidents we’ve had have all been politicians and I can turn back and say it hasn’t been that great,” Piefer said. “But, I think that finally having a businessman might be able to help with that…but I think he’s going to do a lot better job with the economy…and maybe start a change and a shift in how we think.”

Early on in the night, when Trump began to pull ahead in the polls, Piefer said that he was hopeful that Trump would win the election.

At the democratic watch party hosted at the Marriott, James Thompson, chair of Larimer County Democratic Party, talked about what a Trump presidency would mean to the election.

“We … have to really go back to thinking who we are as American people, as citizens and really try to figure out where we went wrong and what we can do to, frankly, move beyond it,” Thompson said.

At the republican watch party hosted at the Fort Collins Senior Center, Bob Morain, chair of Republicans of Larimer county, expressed his thoughts on a Trump presidency.

“I think it means there’s a Republican coalition that can begin refocusing on individuals liberties, protection of property and so forth, defending a nation from enemies … ” Morain said.

Collegian reporter Nataleah Small can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @nataleahjoy.