The chances of Kamala Harris securing the White House have narrowed significantly as Donald Trump is projected to win North Carolina, the first of seven crucial battleground states.
The vice president’s best chance is now in the “blue wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Counting also continues in Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada, offering other paths to 270 Electoral College votes. Polls remain open in Alaska.
The economy and the state of US democracy are among the top issues cited by voters in NBC News’s exit poll, according to the preliminary results.
Thirty-five percent said democracy was their top issue while slightly fewer, 31 percent, said the economy. Abortion was the top issue for 14 percent of voters while 11 percent said immigration. Four percent said foreign policy was most important to them.
Meanwhile, Trump dismissed critics who expressed concerns that he would not concede an election loss as “crazy” as he cast his vote in Florida.
The former president told reporters as he voted with his wife Melania Trump: “If I lose an election, if it’s a fair election, I’d be the first one to acknowledge it.”
Harris senior adviser addresses crowd
Senior adviser to the Kamala Harris campaign former US Rep Cedric Richmond just addressed the crowd at Howard University saying that Vice President Harris will not be addressing supporters tonight.
They will wait until all the votes are counted and Harris will address her supporters tomorrow.
“We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted, that every voice is spoken. So you won’t hear from the vice president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow. She will be back here tomorrow.”
Watch: Trump fans cheer motorcade in West Palm Beach
Who is with Trump at Mar-a-Lago tonight?
Joining former president Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago tonight are Elon Musk, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Caitlin Jenner, Eduardo Bolsonaro, Nigel Farage, Dana White, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Reps Byron Donalds and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Meredith McGraw of Politico reports that Tucker Carlson did a three-hour show interviewing many of those present in the library bar underneath the portrait of Trump in tennis whites.
Despair and stubborn hopefulness at Harris watch party
The mood continues to flip between despair and a stubborn hopefulness at Kamala Harris’s watch party at Howard University, where thousands remained after midnight even when it was clear that Harris herself would not be speaking about the race Tuesday evening.
As the wind picked up and people began shivering, the streams of people heading for the exits continued. Loud dance music continued to blare over the speakers, but nobody was dancing. A large crowd remains in the main yard outside Frederick Douglass Hall, but it was a clear letdown for many who had looked forward to Harris making a speech as president-elect in front of the historic backdrop of her alma mater.
“It means a lot [for her to have her party at Howard],” current Howard student Baiyee-Ndang Agbor-Baiyee told The Independent, while expressing optimism that Harris would pull things through even given some “rocky” election returns. “Howard is a place that breeds excellence…and when you can show the next generation that excellence is in your face, it’s not something that’s distant…it’s achievable. It means a lot.”
Elon Musk claims early victory for Trump with 6 of 7 swing states still uncalled
Elon Musk has proclaimed victory for Donald Trump as he took an early lead over Kamala Harris.
“Game, set, and match,” the Tesla and SpaceX boss declared on his social network X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday evening.
“America is a nation of builders. Soon, you will be free to build,” he followed up.
Io Dodds reports from San Francisco.
Full story: Ted Cruz evades Democratic efforts to unseat him
Despite millions of dollars and best-laid plans, Texas once again eluded Democrats as Senator Ted Cruz pulled off a photo finish to win a third term.
The controversial Republican appeared to have underperformed Donald Trump, who handily won the Lone Star State. In the final weeks of the campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris had held a rally in Houston with Beyoncé and Democratic challenger Colin Allred in hopes of boosting the Senate hopeful – but to no avail.
Eric Garcia reports from the Cruz watch party in Houston, Texas.
Harris wins Nebraska 2nd congressional district
Kamala Harris wins the 2nd Congressional District in Nebraska and one electoral vote, according to the Associated Press
Republicans take Senate
The Associated Press has officially called the US Senate for the Republican Party which takes the majority for the first time in four years.
Alabama voters elect two Black candidates after SCOTUS forced redraw of congressional map
Alabama voters have elected two Black Democratic candidates to the House of Representatives after a landmark Supreme Court decision forced the state’s Republican-dominated state legislature to rewrite a congressional map that violated the Voting Rights Act for discriminating against Black voters.
Congresswoman Terri Sewell has won re-election in the state’s 7th congressional district, and Shomari Figures has been elected to represent a newly redrawn 2nd district.
For years, the Alabama’s congressional map packed most Black residents — who make up more than a quarter of the state’s population — into just one out of seven House districts.
Federal courts struck down the state’s map, and the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2023 upheld Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and agreed that Alabama’s map illegally diluted the voting power of Black residents in the state.
Source: independent.co.uk