{"id":114259,"date":"2024-11-06T19:56:22","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T19:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/election-results-live-results-trump-on-cusp-of-victory-speaks-after-major-win-in-pa-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2024-11-06T19:56:22","modified_gmt":"2024-11-06T19:56:22","slug":"election-results-live-results-trump-on-cusp-of-victory-speaks-after-major-win-in-pa-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/election-results-live-results-trump-on-cusp-of-victory-speaks-after-major-win-in-pa-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Election results live results: Trump on cusp of victory speaks after major win in PA – USA TODAY"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note: This page reflects the news on the campaign trail for the\u00a02024 election<\/a>\u00a0Tuesday, Nov. 5. For the\u00a0latest news and results from the presidential election<\/a>, read USA TODAY’s\u00a0live updates on former President Donald Trump’s victory<\/a>.<\/em>
Former President Donald Trump<\/a> won a second term in office on Tuesday, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris<\/a> in the 2024 race for the White House.
It was a decisive win after polls showed Trump and Harris competing in a razor-close election. But enough Americans in pivotal states were won over by Trump’s focus on inflation and immigration to propel him back to the White House.\u00a0 Trump’s victory also comes after he faced two shocking assassination attempts over the summer.
Early in election night, the nominees picked up their respective strongholds, with Harris winning much of the West Coast and Northeast and Trump clinching victories in the South. But Trump picked up North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, giving him enough momentum as they fought over swing states.
It was also a good night for other Republicans. GOP candidates picked up several pivotal Senate seats across the country, including in West Virginia and Ohio, reclaiming the upper chamber.
Sign-up for Your Vote:<\/strong> Text with the USA TODAY elections team.<\/a>
Catch up with the USA TODAY Network’s live coverage of the presidential election and downballot fights.
Sign-up for Your Vote:<\/strong>\u00a0Text with the USA TODAY elections team.<\/a>
Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0defeated Kamala Harris in Wisconsin flipping a key Midwestern \u201cblue wall\u201d state back to red after\u00a0President Joe Biden<\/a>\u00a0picked it up in 2020.\u00a0Trump is awarded 10 electoral votes, and the state pushes him over the 270 threshold needed to win a presidential election.
Trump won the state in 2016, a stunning upset after he became the first Republican to win the state since 1984.
The state has leaned further to the right in recent years, despite Biden winning the state in the last election. Harris for months has tried to appeal to Republican voters in Wisconsin, while Trump also tried to cut into Harris\u2019 support among Black and Latino voters in the state.\u00a0
\u2013 Marina Pitofsky<\/em>
Trump’s victory speech lasted about 25 minutes, praising his aides and supporters, and marveling at a wild campaign that included two assassination attempts.
“Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason,” Trump said at one point. “And that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness. And now we are going to fulfill that mission together.”
Trump gave shout-outs to campaign aides and his some of his most prominent supporters, including billionaire businessman Elon Musk, Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who previously ran as an independent presidential candidate but dropped out and backed Trump.
Often echoing parts of his campaign stump speech, Trump said his campaign put together diverse coalitions with similar views on immigration and the economy, forming what he called “a common core of common sense.”
“This campaign has been so historic in so many ways,” Trump said.
\u2013 David Jackson<\/em>
Democrat Kamala Harris has won the state of Minnesota. She is awarded 10 electoral votes.\u00a0
Tim Walz, Harris\u2019 vice presidential running mate, serves as governor of the state. The North Star State has been a reliable Democratic stronghold. However in 2016, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton barely eked out a win in the state over Republican Donald Trump by\u00a0 1.5 percentage points.\u00a0\u00a0
\u2013 Rebecca Morin\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0
Donald Trump praised his vice presidential candidate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.\u00a0
“I took a little heat at the beginning but I knew the brain was a good one,” he joked about the senator, who stirred controversy early in the campaign by calling Democratic women “childless cat ladies.”\u00a0
Political analysts raised concerns that Trump has made a mistake in picking the young up-and-coming Republican.
\u2013 Riley Beggin<\/em>
Trump sounded as surprised as anybody in declaring victory, citing the many obstacles he faced during a volatile campaign.
“Look what happened \u2013 is this crazy?” Trump told a screaming crowd at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, also telling supporters that his campaign “made history.”
Echoing comments he made on the campaign trail, Trump credited his political movement for winning a second term in office. Trump also praised Vice President-elect JD Vance and members of the Trump family, including first-lady-to-be (once again) Melania Trump.
Addressing the crowd, Vance said Trump pulled off “the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States of America.”
With some states still out, the president-elect predicted he would wind up with at least 315 electoral votes. He also noted that Republicans would win the U.S. Senate and likely the House.
Trump also pledged to “help our country heal” after a divisive election.
\u2013 David Jackson<\/em>
Donald Trump praised Senate Republicans for retaking the upper chamber Tuesday night, and expressed his support for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who plans to run to retain his leadership role during an internal election next week.\u00a0
Johnson is expected to face leadership challenges if Republicans lose the House, and it is unclear if challengers will emerge if Republicans keep the House. But Trump has been supportive of the speaker in public.
“I think he’s done a terrific job,” Trump said of Johnson early Wednesday morning.
\u2013 Riley Beggin<\/em>
Donald Trump has won the coveted state of Pennsylvania \u2013 flipping a state seen as a must win in the 2024 election cycle.\u00a0
Trump is awarded 19 electoral votes. Trump eked out a win in the state in 2016 by less than a percentage point. But he lost the state to President Joe Biden in 2020.\u00a0\u00a0
Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris were locked in a close race in the critical battleground state. Pennsylvania was one of three critical \u201cblue wall\u201d states \u2013 which includes Michigan and Wisconsin \u2013 that helped catapult both Trump to the White House in 2016 and Biden to the White House in 2020.\u00a0
Trump campaigned heavily in the state, zeroing in on the Western part of the state while also appealing to voters in the Philadelphia suburbs.\u00a0
\u2013 Rebecca Morin<\/em>
Donald Trump has won Maine\u2019s 2nd congressional district. He is awarded one electoral vote.\u00a0
Maine\u2019s results are different than other states because it awards its electoral votes via statewide tally, in addition to congressional districts. Trump in both 2016 and 2020 won the state\u2019s 2nd congressional district, which is largely more conservative and rural than other parts of the state.\u00a0\u00a0
\u2013 Rebecca Morin<\/em>\u00a0
Trump is expected to address supporters soon at the Palm Beach Convention Center.
No one knows if he will explicitly declare victory \u2013 he still doesn’t have the required 270 votes to earn another term in the White House \u2013 but he will at least come close.
\u2013 David Jackson<\/em>
Democrat Kamala Harris has won the state of New Hampshire. She will be awarded 4 electoral votes.\u00a0
The state has voted for Democrats in the presidential race since 1992, with the exception of former President George W. Bush in 2000. New Hampshire keeps a lower profile in general elections, but during primary seasons it often plays a key role in determining the presidential nominee for both parties.\u00a0
\u2013 Rebecca Morin\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0
Kamala Harris will not address supporters gathered at Howard University in Washington for her election night party and plans to instead speak later Wednesday morning.
Cedric Richmond, co-chair of the Harris campaign, delivered that news around 12:45 am ET at the watch party as Harris\u2019 prospects to defeat Trump appeared grimmer.
\u201cWe still have votes to count,\u201d Richmond said. \u201cWe still have states that have not been called yet. We will continue overnight to fight to make sure every vote is counted, that every voice has spoken. You won\u2019t hear from the vice president tonight but you will hear from here tomorrow.\u201d
\u2013 Joey Garrison\u00a0<\/em>
Donald Trump<\/a> has won the state of Georgia flipping it back for Republicans after it went blue in 2020.\u00a0
Trump is awarded 16 electoral votes. He carried Georgia in 2016, when the Peach State had backed Republicans since 1996. However, President Joe Biden<\/a> during the 2020 election narrowly won the state by a margin of roughly 12,000 votes.\u00a0
It wasn’t immediately clear which slice of Georgia’s voters helped propel the former president to victory over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Trump in recent months has focused on rural voters in the state in hopes of offsetting Democrats\u2019 gains in Atlanta and its suburbs.
\u2013 Rebecca Morin<\/em>
Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox won a second term after reversing his anti-Donald Trump<\/a> stance and saying he would vote for the former president.\u00a0
A week after telling CNN he did not<\/a> cast a ballot for Trump in 2016 or 2020 and that he didn\u2019t plan to support him in 2024, Trump\u2019s first assassination attempt<\/a> changed his mind.\u00a0 After winning his party\u2019s primary, Cox faced a crowded field of opponents in the general election including Democrat Brian King<\/a>. Cox emerged victorious.\u00a0
Utah voters also elected Cox governor in 2020. This victory came after he served two terms as lieutenant governor under GOP Gov. Gary Herbert. Cox also briefly represented District 58 in the state\u2019s House of Representatives in 2013 before Herbert appointed him lieutenant governor.\u00a0
\u2013 Rachel Barber<\/em>
Kamala Harris has won Nebraska\u2019s 2nd congressional district. She is awarded 1 electoral vote.\u00a0
Nebraska awards its electoral votes via statewide tally, in addition to congressional districts, making it different from other states that award only one pot of electoral votes. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, was born in Nebraska and grew up in the state. He campaigned several times in the Cornhusker State, hoping to appeal to voters.\u00a0\u00a0
Democrats have won Nebraska\u2019s 2nd congressional district, which is in the Omaha area, both in the 2008 and 2020 presidential elections.\u00a0
\u2013 Rebecca Morin<\/em>\u00a0
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson<\/a>, a Democrat, defeated Republican former U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert<\/a> and will become the state\u2019s next governor.\u00a0
Evergreen State voters first elected Ferguson attorney general in 2012. He won reelection in 2016 and 2020. His gubernatorial campaign centered on issues including the opioid epidemic, civil rights, and the environment.\u00a0
The race pitted Ferguson against Reichert, an Air Force Reserve veteran and longtime police officer.\u00a0
In the state\u2019s crowded nonpartisan primary earlier this year, Ferguson received 44.9% of the vote and Reichert placed second with 27.5%.\u00a0\u00a0
\u2013 Rachel Barber<\/em>\u00a0
The Harris campaign late Tuesday insisted it remains hopeful about the vice president\u2019s ability to sweep the three so-called \u201cblue wall\u201d states \u2013 a sign they acknowledge winning Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan might be Harris\u2019 only remaining path to win the election.
\u201cWe have known all along that our clearest path to 270 electoral votes lies through the Blue Wall states,\u201d Harris campaign chair Jen O\u2019Malley Dillon said in an email to campaign staff. \u201cAnd we feel good about what we\u2019re seeing.\u201d
Harris, however, is underperforming among Black and Latino voters, two core Democratic constituencies, which has the potential to doom her chances in all three \u201cblue wall\u201d states, according to exit polls<\/a>. Trump is the projected winner in North Carolina and is ahead in votes tallied in Georgia. If Harris loses both, she would need to win the trifecta of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan to beat Trump.\u00a0
As signs of hope for Harris, O\u2019Malley Dillon said turnout in Philadelphia and Bucks County have exceeded the campaign\u2019s expectations. In Michigan, the campaign said it has seen high turnout in Detroit. And in Wisconsin, O\u2019Malley Dillon pointed to uncounted votes in Dane and Milwaukee counties.
\u2013 Joey Garrison\u00a0<\/em>
Democrat Kamala Harris has won the state of New Mexico. She is awarded 5 electoral votes.\u00a0
Democrats have carried the state in presidential elections since 1992, except for 2004 when then-President George W. Bush was seeking reelection.\u00a0
\u2013 Rebecca Morin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0
Donald Trump has won the battleground state of North Carolina, the first swing state to be called on Election Day.
\u2013 Marina Pitofsky<\/em>
Republican Donald Trump has won the state of Iowa. He is awarded 6 electoral votes.\u00a0
Once considered a battleground state, Iowa opted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020. The state has leaned more Republican in recent years, and it now has an all-Republican congressional delegation. Still, Iowa holds a special title during primary season: It traditionally holds a first-in-the-nation caucus in presidential primaries.\u00a0
\u2013 Rebecca Morin\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0
Democrat Kamala Harris has won the state of Colorado. She is awarded 10 electoral votes.\u00a0
Democrats have carried Colorado since 2008, when then-Sen. Barack Obama won. In 2020, President Joe Biden won the state by a double-digit margin.\u00a0\u00a0
\u2013 Rebecca Morin<\/em>\u00a0
Voters belonging to a labor union or who live in households with labor union members broke in favor for Harris over Trump, according to a Fox News analysis<\/a>, in partnership with the Associated Press.\u00a0
Union members themselves favored Harris 57% to 39% for Trump, while those living with union members went for the vice president 50% compared to 46% for the former president.\u00a0
This slice of the electorate was seen as potentially make-or-break for the campaigns<\/a> heading into Election Day, with a particularly heavy union presence in the swing states. Traditionally Democratic supporters, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters caused uproar by deciding earlier this year to endorse neither candidate.\u00a0
\u2013 Savannah Kuchar and Sara Chernikoff\u00a0<\/em>
Oregon<\/a> is not typically an area where presidential candidates will battle it out. The Beaver State’s eight electoral votes are reliably blue, having voted for Democrats in every presidential election since 1988 by increasingly large margins.\u00a0
In 2020, the state voted for President Joe Biden<\/a> by over a 16 point margin and in 2016 for Hillary Clinton<\/a> by 11 points.
The polls close in Oregon at 11 p.m. ET and could start to be released as early as 10 p.m.
\u2013 Sam Woodward<\/em>
More:<\/strong>Americans take their children to the polls as voters decide the next US president<\/a>
Missouri voters elected Republican Lieutenant Gov. Mike Kehoe their next governor.\u00a0
Kehoe emerged from his party\u2019s crowded field as the Republican nominee to succeed his boss, Gov. Mike Parson<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0He won in the general election against Democratic nominee Crystal Quade.
On the campaign trail, Kehoe made news<\/a> for refusing to acknowledge that Donald Trump<\/a> lost the 2020 presidential election after he previously said people need to \u201caccept the results.\u201d\u00a0
He was first appointed lieutenant governor in 2018 after serving in the Missouri State Senate since 2011.\u00a0
\u2013 Rachel Barber<\/em>\u00a0
Montana voters reelected Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte<\/a> to serve a second term.\u00a0
Gianforte first assumed Montana\u2019s highest office in 2021 with a decisive victory. This year, he handily defeated his Republican challenger, Tanner Smith, in the primary.
Before serving as governor, Gianforte worked as a businessman and founded five companies. He was elected to represent Montana\u2019s at-large congressional district in 2017 and shortly after pled guilty to assaulting a reporter<\/a>. A USA TODAY analysis from 2019 labeled Gianforte the richest member<\/a> of the 116th Congress.\u00a0
\u2013 Rachel Barber<\/em>\u00a0
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican who earned the current GOP governor\u2019s endorsement, will assume New Hampshire highest office after her opponent conceded Tuesday night.
Ayotte represented The Granite State in the U.S. Senate from 2011 to 2017. A former prosecutor, she served New Hampshire as its first female attorney general from 2004 to 2009 before her election to Congress.
After easily winning her party\u2019s primary, Ayotte faced off against Democrat Joyce Craig in the general election. The race became one of the country\u2019s most competitive gubernatorial matchups.
\u2013 Rachel Barber<\/em>
The ballot measure that would have enshrined abortion in the state constitution failed to meet the 60% threshold to pass. The amendment received approximately 57% approval,\u00a0according to the Florida Department of State election results page.<\/a>
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted about the amendment’s failure in a post on X on Sunday night.
“With polls now closed in Florida \u2014 Amendment 3 has failed. Amendment 4 has failed,” DeSantis wrote on X a little after 8 p.m.
\u2013 Ana Gon\u0303i-Lessan<\/em>
Republican Kelly Armstrong<\/a> will be North Dakota\u2019s next governor.\u00a0
The race to fill the state\u2019s highest office began when Gov. Doug Burgum<\/a> announced he would not seek reelection after ending his bid for the White House. Armstrong has represented North Dakota\u2019s at-large congressional district in the House of Representatives since 2019.\u00a0
He launched his campaign for governor the day after Burgum\u2019s announcement and won the Republican primary comfortably in June. He faced Democrat Merrill Piepkorn in the general election.
When he won his congressional seat in 2018, Armstrong\u2019s federal financial disclosure form detailed income from hundreds of North Dakota oil wells and a financial relationship with two state oil producers, ProPublica reported<\/a>. Those ties may matter. As governor, he is set to chair two state bodies that regulate the energy industry.\u00a0
\u2013 Rachel Barber<\/em>\u00a0
Democrat Matt Meyer<\/a> has defeated Republican Mike Ramone<\/a> and will become Delaware\u2019s next governor.\u00a0
A lawyer, businessman, and former teacher, Meyer has served as New Castle County Executive since 2017.\u00a0\u00a0Despite opposition from the state Democratic party\u2019s leadership, including Gov. John Carney, Meyer won the party primary earlier this year.\u00a0\u00a0
\u2013 Rachel Barber<\/em>\u00a0
Find all your state-by-state live results here:
Alabama<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Alaska<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Arizona<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Arkansas<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0California<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Colorado<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Connecticut<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Delaware<\/a>\u00a0| District of Columbia<\/a> |\u00a0Florida<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Georgia<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Hawaii<\/a>\u00a0| Idaho<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Illinois<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Indiana<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Iowa<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Kansas<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Kentucky<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Louisiana<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Maine<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Maryland<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Massachusetts<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Michigan<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Minnesota<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Mississippi<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Missouri<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Montana<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Nebraska<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Nevada<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0New Hampshire<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0New Jersey<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0New Mexico<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0New York<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0North Carolina<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0North Dakota<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Ohio<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Oklahoma<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Oregon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Pennsylvania<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Rhode Island<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0South Carolina<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0South Dakota<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Tennessee<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Texas<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Utah<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Vermont<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Virginia<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Washington<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0West Virginia<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Wisconsin<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Wyoming<\/a>
A gender gap between voters who support Kamala Harris and former Donald Trump remains among voters who hit the polls on Tuesday, according to exit polls.<\/a>
More than half (54%) of Harris\u2019 supporters are women, with 44% men, according to national exit polls from CNN. Among Trump, 54% of his supporters are men while 43% are women.\u00a0
The former president was also able to cut into Democrats\u2019 support among Latino voters \u2013 especially among Latino men.
Exit polls show that 53% of Latino voters support Harris while 45% support Trump. In 2020, President Joe Biden had the support of 65% of Latino voters compared to Trump at 32%, according to a CNN exit poll from 2020. More than half (54%) of Latino men support Trump but only 45% support Harris. But 59% of Latino men supported Biden in 2020, while 36% of Latino men supported Trump, according to 2020 exit polls.\u00a0
The state of democracy and the economy were the biggest concerns on the minds of voters as they headed to the polls on Tuesday, according to a series of exit polls. More than one-third of voters in a CNN exit poll said democracy was their top issue, while about three in 10 cited the economy. Abortion and immigration were next on voters\u2019 list of concerns. Fewer than 5% cited foreign policy as their top issue.
\u2013 Rebecca Morin and Michael Collins<\/em>
More:<\/strong>Who’s more likely to turn out? Women or men? What does it mean for Harris vs. Trump?<\/a>
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the lead prosecutor in the 2020 election<\/a> interference state case against Donald Trump in Georgia, won a second term on Tuesday.
Willis ran against Republican Courtney Kramer, who served as a litigation consultant on Trump\u2019s legal team after the 2020 presidential election.\u00a0Kramer also provided legal assistance to state legislators developing Georgia\u2019s controversial 2021 election law, which led the Major League Baseball Association to relocate its All-Star Game that year.
Willis leapt to national fame for her office’s investigation and indictment of Trump, who is facing felony state charges for allegedly conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election<\/a> in Georgia and participating in a \u201ccriminal enterprise.\u201d Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case.
\u2013 Sudiksha Kochi and Karissa Waddick<\/em>
As the polls closed on the East Coast, a hip hop and Gospel party was underway at \u201cthe Yard\u201d at Howard University in Washington, D.C., the historically Black university where Kamala Harris went to undergrad.<\/a>
The Howard University Gospel Choir gave a rendition of \u201cOh Happy Day.\u201d A DJ played Kirk Franklin\u2019s \u201cStomp.\u201d A large screen showed sweeping images of the crowd that awaits Harris, the first Black and Asian woman to lead a major party\u2019s presidential ticket. If elected, Harris would be the first graduate of an HBCU to become president.
Howard University president Ben Vinson III told students and alumni who gathered to support her at the event, \u201cHere, we know our history, we know our importance, we know the contributions we can make to the world. And we know that completing the work of America, and completing the work of democracy, entails the knowledge born in institutions like these, pillars for higher education, that mold citizens of the world.\u201d
\u2013 Francesca Chambers<\/em>
Tucked away in Atlanta, Georgia sits Manuel’s Tavern, an unassuming bar that has long been a fixture for Democrats. Former President Jimmy Carter<\/a> first announced his gubernatorial campaign at the bar; Barack Obama is another one of its famous patrons.
Democrats gathered again at Manuel’s Tavern on Election Night. The crowd spilled out into the parking lot, where hundreds of people anxiously awaited results. Gene Webster, 84, was among the crowd outside the tavern. She cast her first ballot in 1960 during the race between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. But it was her vote for Kamala Harris, cast on the first day of early voting, that she said meant the most.
“I love Kamala Harris,” Webster said, “I love her positions and what she plans on doing as president.” It also helped that Harris is a fellow sister of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the oldest Black sorority, Webster laughed. But it was Harris’ focus on the economy that most appealed to Webster, like the Democrat’s proposed loans for small businesses and new home owners.\u00a0\u00a0
“My son is a small business owner. My grandson is about to buy his first home,” she said. “Harris’ economic policies would really touch my life all the way around.”
\u2013 Melissa Cruz<\/em>
Republican Donald Trump has won the state of Ohio. He is awarded 17 electoral votes.\u00a0
JD Vance, Trump\u2019s vice presidential running mate, serves as senator for the state. Trump won Ohio both in 2016 and 2020. Ohio is often considered a bellwether that typically votes for the winner of the presidential election, with 2020 being the first time in the last 14 elections that it didn\u2019t vote for the president.\u00a0
The state was also at the center of a debate on immigration in recent months after both Trump and Vance promoted false rumors that Haitian migrants were eating the pets of their neighbors in Springfield, Ohio.\u00a0
\u2013 Rebecca Morin\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0
Republican Donald Trump has won the state of Texas, according to CNN and Fox News. He is awarded 40 electoral votes.\u00a0
Texas has the second most electoral votes in the country, second to California. The state has been reliably red since 1980.\u00a0
\u2013 Rebecca Morin\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0
Democrat Kamala Harris has won the state of New York. She is awarded 28 electoral votes.\u00a0
New York has voted for Democrats in the presidential election since 1988. Republican Donald Trump in the weeks leading up to the election repeatedly campaigned in the state, which was his home for decades before he moved to Florida after his term in the White House. Trump held major rallies in Long Island and in New York City at Madison Square Garden.\u00a0
\u2013 Rebecca Morin\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0
Trump picked up North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and parts of Nebraska. He was expected to win all of the areas as polls continue to close across the country.
\u2013 Marina Pitofsky<\/em>
Floridians have snuffed out<\/a> the constitutional amendment allowing recreational marijuana.\u00a0
Following\u00a0the most expensive ballot measure battle<\/a>\u00a0in the nation,\u00a0Decision Desk HQ<\/a>\u00a0has called the race with Amendment 3 several percentage points short of the approval threshold with the vast majority of votes counted. Gov. Ron DeSantis also declared the amendment dead.
With almost 95% of the vote tallied, the amendment was sitting at 57.1%, about 3% shy of what was needed for passage.
\u2013Douglas Soule<\/em>
While the votes are being counted and exit polling is being analyzed, the candidates are waiting like the rest of the country to find out who won the election.
Donald Trump<\/a> and his running mate JD Vance<\/a> will be at the former president’s resort, Mar-a-Lago, but he’s also holding a larger watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center in Palm Beach, Florida.
Kamala Harris<\/a> will hold her election night party at her alma mater and historically Black college Howard University in Washington, D.C. Her running mate, Tim Walz<\/a>, will join her there.
\u2013 Sam Woodward and Zac Anderson<\/em>
The White Claw costs $9. The MAGA hats are on the house.
Donald Trump\u2019s election night watch party at the Palm Beach County Convention Center drew a large crowd of supporters Tuesday who dined on complimentary spring rolls and cheese platters and lined up for the cash bar.
Guests were handed red MAGA hats as they entered the Convention Center’s exhibit hall. Domestic alcohol \u2013 Michelob Ultra and White Claw \u2013 cost $9, while imported beers \u2013 Modelo and Stella Artois \u2013 cost $10. A glass of wine is $13.
The crowd included a large group of Bikers for Trump, people emulating Trump\u2019s garbage man stunt and wearing reflective construction vests, and some of the former president\u2019s closest allies. New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, actor Kevin Sorbo and Trump aides Corey Lewandowki and Tim Murtaugh all made appearances in the exhibit hall early in the night before polls closed.
A stage flanked with American flags is setup for Trump to speak later in the evening.
\u2013 Zac Anderson<\/em>
Kamala Harris has won Delaware, clinching victory in President Joe Biden’s home state. Harris rose to the top of the Democratic ticket over the summer after Biden ended his reelection bid in the wake of a disastrous debate performance.
\u2013 Marina Pitofsky<\/em>
As the polls closed on Election Day, Fulton County Elections Director Nadine Williams said that 92,000 voters in the metro Atlanta county turned out to cast their ballot on Election Day. Along with the 417,000 Fulton County residents who voted early and 26,000 who cast absentee ballots, the 2024 turnout reached over half a million voters in Fulton County alone.\u00a0
\u201cThese numbers surpass the total turnout for the 2020 election,\u201d Williams said.\u00a0
She also thanked the elections workers who operated polls, as well as phone lines and other services, to ensure that the election process went smoothly at all 177 precincts.\u00a0
\u201cDespite a few attempted disruptions, our staff and poll workers remained steadfast in their commitment to ensure a smooth process,\u201d Williams said.\u00a0
Fulton County Police Chief\u00a0W. Wade Yates\u00a0said that 32 precincts were targeted with bomb threats on Election Day. Some of the threats were called into 911 centers, some were called in to the precincts themselves and others were emailed in. Only five of those threats were deemed credible and resulted in evacuations. The hours at those five locations were extended by an emergency court order to ensure that voters were able to cast their ballots.\u00a0
\u2013 Maya Homan<\/em>\u00a0
Democrat Josh Stein<\/a> defeated Republican Mark Robinson<\/a> in North Carolina, the country\u2019s most high-profile governor\u2019s race, according to Fox News and NBC News.
The battle between Stein, the state attorney general, and Robinson, the lieutenant governor, was one of the most expensive in the 2024 cycle and a defining matchup<\/a> between a Southern Democrat and a red-meat Republican popular with the \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d crowd.\u00a0\u00a0
It was expected to be the country\u2019s most competitive governor\u2019s race before major scandal plagued<\/a> the Robinson campaign.\u00a0
\u2013 Rachel Barber<\/em>\u00a0
While a few Southern states have opted for Donald Trump, all eyes are waiting to see tallies from the swing states of Georgia<\/a> and North Carolina<\/a>. Click on the links to follow along with the USA TODAY Network’s results for both states.
\u2013 Marina Pitofsky<\/em>
Harris has picked up a few key Democratic strongholds in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maryland.
\u2013 Marina Pitofsky<\/em>
Donald Trump has clinched victory in Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina, three of the Southern states he was widely expected to win.
\u2013 Marina Pitofsky<\/em>
The Harris campaign remains encouraged by turnout in heavily Democratic Philadelphia \u2013 where Harris needs to build a massive advantage to win the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania.
As of 5:30 p.m. ET, the campaign said Philadelphia had exceeded the raw turnout of the 2016 election and overperformed the campaign\u2019s internal expectations.
The campaign said as of 5 p.m. ET the three Philadelphia wards with the highest densities of Puerto Rican voters had surpassed 2020 turnout \u2013 a tally that includes both mail-in ballots and Election Day voters.
The Harris campaign has been banking on strong numbers from Puerto Rican voters, particularly after a comedian at a Trump rally last week at New York\u2019s Madison Square Garden referred to Puerto Rico as a \u201cfloating island of garbage,\u201d angering many Puerto Ricans.
\u2013 Joey Garrison<\/em>
The Harris campaign has dispatched celebrities to encourage college students to stay in line to vote at voting precincts near heavily Democratic college campuses.
The campaign said it has sent actor Paul Rudd to visit with students in line at Pennsylvania.
In addition, the campaign has Facetimed in actress Jennifer Garner to encourage students at voting sites around Villanova University in Philadelphia, actor Josh Gad at precincts near Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, businessman Mark Cuban at voting sites near UNC-Charlotte in North Carolina, and Demi Lovato at precincts around UNLV in Las Vegas.
\u2013 Joey Garrison<\/em>
Cole James, a college student studying business at Georgia State University,<\/a> was the last voter to leave the Parkside Elementary School polling location in Atlanta as it closed down at 7 p.m. EDT. James said he had to cast a provisional ballot because he registered in north Georgia before moving to the Atlanta area.
James said he voted for Harris, although he was concerned that Harris hasn’t put enough effort into issues related to Palestine<\/a>. He also had concerns about her track record as a former prosecutor, saying he read that she put people behind bars who didn’t need to be there, for example for a “small drug charge for weed and simple things like that.”\u00a0
“But I think her policies on abortion and cutting taxes and getting \u2013 helping middle class families is also very important as well,” James said. He didn’t have a prediction of what will happen.
“Everyone wants a slice of the cake, if that makes any sense,” he said. “Depending on the president and their policies and who they back, it really just will shift, I guess, the paradigm of the country for the next three to four years.”
\u2013 Aysha Bagchi<\/em>
Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott<\/a> will serve a fifth term in the state\u2019s highest office.\u00a0
Voters in The Green Mountain State first elected Scott their governor in 2016. He won reelection in 2018, 2020, and 2022. This year, he ran unopposed in the Republican primary. \u00a0\u00a0He defeated his Democratic challenger, Esther Charlestin, in the general election.\u00a0A moderate Republican, Scott has focused on issues of affordability and economic growth.\u00a0
In a rare bipartisan partnership, Scott previously served three terms as the state\u2019s lieutenant governor from 2011 to 2017 alongside Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin<\/a>. Before that, he had served in the Vermont State Senate since 2001.\u00a0
\u2013 Rachel Barber<\/em>\u00a0
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey<\/a>, a Republican, will be the state\u2019s next governor.\u00a0
Morrisey entered the race to serve in The Mountain State\u2019s highest office after Republican Gov. Jim Justice<\/a> announced he would not seek reelection and would instead run for retiring Democrat Joe Manchin\u2019s<\/a> seat in the U.S. Senate.\u00a0
Morrisey emerged victorious from a crowded Republican primary earlier this year and faced seven opponents in the general election. His strongest challenger was Democrat Steve Williams.
\u2013 Rachel Barber<\/em>\u00a0
Donald Trump has picked up West Virginia, one of the ruby-red states he was expected to win on Tuesday.
\u2013 Marina Pitofsky
In 2020, then-incumbent President Donald Trump<\/a> lost the election<\/a> to President Joe Biden<\/a>.
Biden secured 306 Electoral College<\/a> votes over Trump’s 232. Of the seven battleground<\/a> states, Arizona<\/a>, Wisconsin<\/a>, Michigan<\/a>, Pennsylvania<\/a>, and Georgia<\/a> flipped in Biden’s favor.
He also won the popular vote by over seven million votes, the most votes ever cast<\/a> for a presidential candidate.
\u2013 Sam Woodward<\/em>
Indiana voters elected Sen. Mike Braun<\/a> to serve the state as its next governor.\u00a0
A former Democrat turned Republican, Braun has represented The Hoosier State in the Senate since 2019. Before serving in the U.S. Congress, Braun was in the Indiana House of Representatives.\u00a0\u00a0
The lawmaker and wealthy businessman beat out five other office seekers in the Republican primary earlier this year.\u00a0\u00a0
\u2013 Rachel Barber<\/em>\u00a0
The Trump crowd in Palm Beach County is getting into the spirit of things.
Several hundred cheered when television networks called Kentucky for the former president. Few noticed when those same networks called Vermont for Harris.
Event organizers cut off the recorded music and began playing the Fox News coverage of the returns.
\u2013 David Jackson<\/em>
In the first wins of the night, Donald Trump has picked up Kentucky and Indiana, and Kamala Harris has claimed Vermont.
\u2013 Marina Pitofsky<\/em>
Former President Barack Obama<\/a> is advising Americans to keep calm as the 2024 election results pour in Tuesday.
“It took several days to count every ballot in 2020, and it\u2019s very likely we won\u2019t know the outcome tonight either,” Obama said on X<\/a>, formerly Twitter.
Specifically, he asked for people to respect election workers who are tallying the ballots: “Don\u2019t share things before checking your sources,” he said.
“Let the process run its course. It takes time to count every ballot.”
\u2013 Phillip M. Bailey<\/em>
As Americans make their voices heard across the country, keep up with results in the race for the White House and Congressional battlegrounds at the USA TODAY Network’s hub<\/a>.
\u2013 USA TODAY staff<\/em>
In the fight for the critical battleground of Pennsylvania, the Harris campaign said it is encouraged by high turnout in Puerto Rican neighborhoods in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania\u2019s college towns and communities.
\u201cThis coalition is coming together, and this is the day it matters,\u201d Stephanie Cutter, a Harris campaign senior adviser, said on MSNBC.
\u201cWe don’t expect this race to be called early, but we are optimistic that we are literally about to be able to turn the page on Donald Trump and install Vice President Harris as the next president of the United States,\u201d she said.
The Harris campaign said as of midday Tuesday the three wards with the highest concentration of registered Puerto Rican voters were already at 79% of total 2020 turnout. The campaign said it is sending surrogates \u2013 and working to extend voting hours \u2013 to college areas like Lehigh University in Lehigh, Pennsylvania, where college students have reported standing in seven-hour lines to vote.
\u2013 Joey Garrison<\/em>
Well, it’s complicated.<\/a> The United States’ five territories — American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico — may be able to participate in the presidential primaries, but that’s the extent of their involvement in the election cycle.
The U.S. Constitution awards it’s president based on the Electoral College<\/a> which allots votes to states to then give to the candidate who wins their state. Despite allowing these five territories to vote in presidential primaries and sending delegates to both party conventions, they are not granted Electoral College votes and therefore cannot have a say in who is president on the final ballots.\u00a0
Whether residents of these territories can cast a ballot for Election Day is dependent on if they hold formal residency in one of the 50 states or Washington, D.C.\u00a0
Notably, over two-thirds of Puerto Ricans live in the states and D.C., over half a million of them being concentrated in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. The voting bloc has been in the spotlight<\/a> since Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump<\/a>‘s Madison Square Garden rally<\/a> two weeks ago has been criticized as racist for a comment made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe<\/a>, calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”
\u2013 Anna Kaufman and Sam Woodward<\/em>
Legal fights and long, long lines:<\/strong>Live updates on Election Day snags<\/a>
With nearly half of the country’s Republicans<\/a> and a quarter of Democrats questioning whether next month’s presidential election will be fair, USA TODAY wanted to know where members of the next Congress stand on the issue.\u00a0
So, we surveyed all 382 members of the House and 91 Senators who are either running for re-election or would still be in office in January, asking whether they would uphold the 2024 presidential election results, regardless of the winner. We also polled 747 candidates running for the House and Senate whose names are on the ballot this year. Those who agreed to uphold the results without conditions include:
Here\u2019s a full breakdown of how<\/a> lawmakers responded.
\u2013 Sudiksha Kochi<\/em>
Approximately 10 Georgia voting precincts will be staying open late, each for about 20-40 minutes, as a result of a bomb threat that came from Russia in the morning, according to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
The precincts are in various counties, including Atlanta’s Fulton County and Atlanta-adjacent Gwinnett County, Raffensperger said. The normal time for polling locations to close across the Peach State is 7 p.m. EDT.
Earlier Tuesday, the FBI announced that bomb threats appearing to come from Russian email domains targeted polling sites in several states. None of them were determined to be credible.
\u2013 Aysha Bagchi<\/em>
Historian Allan Lichtman, who has accurately predicted nine of the last 10 presidential elections, reaffirmed his prediction<\/a> that Harris will narrowly defeat Trump. Lichtman also called out\u00a0fellow predictor\u00a0Nate Silver, despite him sharing the same projected result.\u00a0
\u201cNate Silver\u2019s compilation of polls is so unreliable that he now says that who will win the presidency is down to luck,\u201d Lichtman wrote in a post on X Monday.\u00a0
Silver’s\u00a0final 2024 presidential election forecast\u00a0had Harris as the winner by a razor-thin margin after she won 40,012 of the total 80,000 simulations.\u00a0
Lichtman on the other hand uses his “13 Keys to the White House” system to determine who will win the election. He voiced his confidence in his system in a separate X post on Monday writing, “Mark my words\u2026 The Keys will be right again!”\u00a0
— Jonathan Limehouse and Savannah Kuchar\u00a0<\/em>
The president will be in the White House this evening to watch election results start rolling in.\u00a0
Once the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Biden has no public events scheduled for the remainder of Election Day.\u00a0
— Savannah Kuchar<\/em>
Trump aides are putting the finishing touches on an election watch party in a cavern-like ballroom at the Palm Beach Convention Center.
American flags, pro-Trump signs, and bunting are in place; so are theater-size screens with boxes featuring different news networks.
The sound system is being tested with Trump’s playlist.
A few dozen Trump supporters started trickling in shortly after 4 p.m,. staking out the front row at the railing in front of the stage. “The gang’s all here?” someone shouted.
Now all we need is some results.
Trump himself is at Mar-a-Lago, about three-and-a-half miles away, hoping to appear at the watch party late tonight or early tomorrow morning.
–David Jackson\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>
Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise visit to a phone bank organized by the Democratic National Committee in Washington D.C., and thanked volunteers there.
According to pool reports, she walked in with a box of Doritos.
“This is just the best, best, best and I thank you all very much,” she said. Then picked up a phone and spoke to the person on the other end: \u201cI am well,” she said.\u00a0“Have you voted already? You did? Thank you!”
She spoke to another person, who appeared to be a kid, and said: \u201cIt’s Kamala Harris. Waiting for you to grow 10 years more.”\u00a0Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy<\/em>
The contest between Harris and Trump is remarkably close, with polls showing razor-thin margins in key swing states. A nail-biter of a race is hardly new, though.
In 2000, when Al Gore faced off against George W. Bush, the race was eventually decided by just 537 votes<\/a> after the Supreme Court ended a legal battle lasting over 30 days.
Other close elections include 1876, in which Rutherford B. Hayes won by just one electoral vote, the smallest margin in American history, and 1916 in which Woodrow Wilson bested Charles Evans Hughes in a contest that came down to California.\u00a0\u00a0
-Anna Kaufman\u00a0<\/em>
While waiting for actual election returns, Trump paid a brief visit to his national campaign headquarters, talking up turnout and predicting victory.
“It should be good,” Trump told members of his staff.
Former first lady Melania Trump accompanied the former president and also lauded the staff. “Thank you so much for all of your support,” she said.
As he did after voting earlier in the day, Trump said it’s “crazy” to realize that it could be days before a winner is determined. He again called for all “paper ballots,” although those take longer to tabulate.
In an event, Trump told aides and volunteers that he is looking forward to what he hopes will be a victory party.
“I’ll be seeing you tonight,” Trump said.
–David Jackson<\/em>
A trip down memory lane:<\/strong>What a year! 12 months of the craziest election campaign in memory.<\/a>
Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a press conference that 700,000 Georgians had voted on Tuesday by about 2:30 p.m. EDT. If the rate of voting holds for the rest of the day, about 1.1 million Georgians will have voted on Tuesday, he said.
Already, more than 4 million voters in the state during the early voting period that closed Friday.
\u2013 Aysha Bagchi<\/em>
While Puerto Rico conducts primary elections<\/a> and sends delegates to both the RNC and DNC, the U.S. territory has no electoral college votes so does not weigh in during the general election. However, residents of Puerto Rico are American citizens, so those who have moved from the territory to one of the 50 states or Washington D.C., can cast a ballot for president.
A large number of Puerto Ricans live in the states, roughly 5.8 million, according to the Pew Research Center.<\/a> They represent the second-largest population of Hispanic origin living in America and a sizeable voting bloc.
The other U.S. territories — Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa — also do not have any electoral votes.
— Anna Kauffman<\/em>
Trump, voting Tuesday in Palm Beach, Florida, said he was feeling “very confident.” The Republican candidate, accompanied by former first lady Melania Trump, said he believed \u201cRepublicans have shown up in force.\u201d
Trump devoted part of his post-voting comments to two media institutions: Fox News and Oprah Winfrey.Trump said Winfrey \u201cshould be ashamed of herself\u201d for supporting Harris, while Fox should be ashamed of itself for broadcasting Winfrey\u2019s comments in support of his opponent. People used to think that Fox was pro-Trump, the television-watching candidate said.
\u201cThey\u2019re not pro-Trump at all,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ve put Oprah on all morning long. That\u2019s all I see is Oprah.\u201d
\u2212 David Jackson<\/em>
Congressional election 2024 live updates<\/strong>Who will have control of the House, Senate?<\/a>
Harris participated Tuesday in\u00a0\u201cThe Big Tigger Morning Show on V-103,\u201d a radio show based out of Atlanta, and talked about her \u201clived experience\u201d with Black men.
\u201cThis is not something I just figured out \u2212 that we still have a lot to do to recognize the disparities in what Black men receive and what they are due in terms of access to opportunity,\u201d she said.
While about 90% of Black men voted for President Joe Biden in 2020, a New York Times\/Siena College poll in October showed 78% were planning to vote for Harris now. About 15% of Black likely voters said they planned to vote for Trump.
She talked about her \u201copportunity economy agenda that for Black men,\u201d which includes a $20,000 forgivable loan for entrepreneurs for start-up expenses.\u00a0She also said she wants to increase access to health screening for colon and prostate cancer.
\u201cOur men have a higher rate of those cancers,\u201d she said. \u201cSo my focus for Black men ranges from access to capital to what we need to do for health care.\u201d
Who is more likely to turn out?<\/strong>Analyzing the gender gap<\/a>
In the unlikely event that there is a 269 to 269 tie in the Electoral College<\/a>, a complicated process will begin to churn.\u00a0First, the newly elected members of the House of Representatives would gather to vote for the new president. Here, each state\u2019s delegation would get one vote. For example, California\u2019s 52 House of Representatives members would have one vote the same as Wyoming\u2019s single member.
Then, the Senate would gather to vote for the new vice president, so theoretically, a Harris-Vance or a Trump-Walz administration could be possible.\u00a0In the Senate, every senator would have their own vote with a simple majority needed to choose a winner.
\u2212 Fernando Cervantes Jr.<\/em>
Americans aren’t the only ones watching the U.S. presidential election closely. The next occupant of the White House will have an impact on global trade, security partnerships, diplomatic ties and could, for example, bring in more protectionist trade policies, shift global security dynamics and accelerate (or not) outcomes for wars from Gaza to Ukraine.\u00a0\u00a0
One country that’s always watching: Russia. Moscow, in the form of Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, had this message for the next U.S. president: “It would be logical for the White House host, whoever he or she may be, to focus on solving his or her country’s problems instead of seeking adventures tens of thousands of miles from American shores.”
Separately, the Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on allegations made by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Tuesday that a bomb threat made against a polling place in his state was of Russian origin.
\u2212 Kim Hjelmgaard<\/em>
The battleground states where some of the closest races are expected include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Those states have consistently shown polling within the margin of error, which describes how accurately the survey results are representative of the entire population. When a candidate’s lead is “inside” the margin of error, it is considered a “statistical tie,” according to\u00a0Pew Research Center.<\/a>
Pew has found<\/a> the majority of pollsters have changed their methods since the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, where Trump’s performance was significantly underestimated.
You can see the results of recent polling<\/a> in swing states here.
\u2212 Kinsey Crowley and James Powel<\/em>
There was one thing many American voters could agree to celebrate on Tuesday: the end of political advertising.
\u201cI\u2019m just ready to stop seeing these ads 24\/7,\u201d said Jacob Kossler, a 24-year-old software engineer who voted at the Cobb County Civic Center in Georgia. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to watch a football game without having to see two back-to-back ads \u2026 hearing about how someone is the devil.\u201d
The 2024 federal election is on track to be the costliest ever, with spending near $16 billion<\/a>, according to OpenSecrets.org, a non-profit organization that tracks money in U.S. politics.
Pranav Patel, 42, of\u00a0Warrington Township, Pa., said he\u2019s put off by the onslaught of outreach from both campaigns. Patel showed USA TODAY more than a dozen missed calls he received from campaigns during the two hours before he went to vote.
\u201cThat’s not going to have me change my mind who I’m going to vote for,\u201d he said.
\u2212 Deb Barfield Berry and Sarah Wire<\/em>
Americans eager for the 2024 presidential race to end<\/a> may not get their wish Tuesday as both camps are prepared for a prolonged election battle.\u00a0The Harris campaign told reporters Monday the country might not know the election result “for several days,” given the different count rules<\/a> in the critical swing states. In North Carolina, where Trump defeated then-candidate Joe Biden by 73,697 votes, or 1.3%, four years ago, the count could drag on.
“No one here actually expects full resolution on E-Day,” Todd Zimmer, co-founder of Down Home Carolina<\/a>, a progressive-leaning nonprofit group, told USA TODAY. In a memo provided to USA TODAY, the group, which focuses on organizing in rural areas, advised its canvassers to be ready to help fix voter\u2019s provisional ballots in case of a recount scenario where those votes could be challenged.
Zimmer said many activists, whether liberal or conservative, anticipate days or possibly weeks of administrative jockeying and legal maneuvering over election rules.
“It almost seems the foregone conclusion is we expect a recount or some kind of post-election activity to secure the popular vote,” Zimmer said.
In Nevada, waiting voters in Reno applauded after workers gave first-time voter Tyler Hilliard, 18, a certificate to mark the occasion. Hilliard, accompanied by his dad, was first in line and first to finish casting a ballot on the Washoe County electronic voting machine, finishing minutes after the polls opened at 7 a.m.
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of heavy, to be honest,\u201d Hilliard said. \u201cI feel pride. I\u2019m feel like I\u2019m lucky I have the right to vote.\u201d
Hilliard said he\u2019s still struggling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and voted for candidates he felt would best support mental health. Watching with teary eyes, dad Tim Hilliard, 47, said he was proud of his son for getting up early to vote. Tim Hilliard said he voted by mail earlier, was confident his ballot had been properly tracked and counted and that it was important to trust the system.
\u201cI do think we need to accept the results either way,” he said. “I do wish legislators would learn how to compromise. Until we can get off this red-blue mess, we aren\u2019t doing to learn what compromise is.\u201d
\u2212 Trevor Hughes<\/em>
Celebrity endorsements have been steadily coming in throughout the campaign trail, and a few\u00a0well-known names<\/a>\u00a0made their choices knowns this week<\/a>. Among them were actor Harrison Ford, who said he backs Harris, and podcaster Joe Rogan, who favors Trump.
Media personality Megyn Kelly endorsed Trump during one of his Pennsylvania rallies on Monday, saying the former president “will be a protector of women.” William Dwight McKissic Sr., the Texas mega-church pastor, endorsed Harris on social media, saying he wants a president who “would not instigate, finance, participate in, or even attend, a gathering such as the Jan 6 insurrection.”
\u2212 Natalie Neysa Alund<\/em>
At the Grace Lutheran Church in Pottsdown, Pa., campaign signs lead straight to the door of the church. A line of voters wound around the corner.<\/em>\u00a0Lee Ann Barkasi, 67, of Pottsdown said she voted for Harris and said she is ready to see the country come together.
\u201cThere’s so much hatred,” she said. “I was standing in line in front of someone today, and the things they were saying, they were cursing, and it’s not necessary. We’re supposed to love one another.”
She doesn\u2019t know how the country will come back together though.\u00a0But she said people need to accept the election results regardless of who wins.\u00a0
\u201cMy neighbor across the street is Trump’.'” she said. “I’m Kamala, but\u00a0 she’s allowed to believe or vote for who she wants to. … Everybody’s entitled to their opinion.\u201d
\u2212 Sarah Wire<\/em>
Some of the last polls reflected what they have shown for months \u2212 a very close race.
\u220e Harris is leading former\u00a0Trump<\/a>\u00a0by 2 percentage points in\u00a0the latest Ipsos Core Political poll<\/a>\u00a0released Monday.
\u220e The race is even tighter in the final\u00a0TIPP Tracking Poll<\/a>\u00a0released Tuesday, which showed Trump with just a .3-point lead on Harris.
\u220e Harris\u00a0has a four-point lead over Trump\u00a0in\u00a0the final national poll released by Marist on Monday<\/a>.
\u220e Harris\u00a0and\u00a0Trump\u00a0are in a statistical tie in the latest\u00a0Forbes\/HarrisX national poll<\/a>\u00a0released late Monday, with Harris\u00a0holding a razor-thin 49%-48% lead<\/a>.
\u2212 Eric Lagatta and James Powel<\/em>
Polling in the New Hampshire town of Dixville Notch opened at midnight Monday with the National Anthem played on an accordion. All six of its residents voted immediately, and Trump and Harris each won three votes<\/a>. Four years ago Biden swept all five votes in the unincorporated township 10 miles east of Vermont. Eight years ago Hillary Clinton claimed four votes to two for Trump and one for Libertarian Gary Johnson.
No need to leave the polls open all day in this town, they close when “all have voted.”
After campaigning vigorously for her father, former President Donald Trump, during his two previous bids for the White House, Ivanka Trump has been absent from the campaign trail this time around. Although the Trump daughter did make an appearance during the Republican National Convention in July, she had announced her intention to stay away from the race after her father announced his candidacy in 2022.
\u201cThis time around I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family,\u201d she said in a statement.
Doug Emhoff<\/a> closed out his campaign for wife Kamala Harris on Monday night with a celebrity-studded rally in Pennsylvania. After a brief performance and speech, Lady Gaga introduced Emhoff as the soon-to-be first gentlemen. Emhoff echoed what has been his main campaign riff: Harris was the right person to trust with his family<\/a> when they married, and is the right person for America right now.
\u201cMy wife cares about what you\u2019re going through, she understands what\u2019s in your way,\u201d Emhoff told the crowd.
Harris\u2019 husband has been an energetic campaign companion for the candidate. Alongside VP-hopeful Tim Walz, Emhoff has sparked a larger conversation around masculinity<\/a> in a race increasingly defined by gender.\u00a0\u00a0
\u2212 Anna Kaufman<\/em>
In an election eve rally, Republican vice-presidential candidate\u00a0JD Vance<\/a>\u00a0referred to Harris<\/a>, as “trash” that needs to be taken out. During an appearance in Atlanta, Ohio’s junior senator first criticized a statement by President\u00a0Joe Biden<\/a> last week in which he appeared to label supporters of Trump<\/a>\u00a0as “garbage.” Biden said he was condemning comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who had\u00a0derided Puerto Rico<\/a>\u00a0as a \u201cfloating island of garbage” at a Trump rally a few days earlier.
Vance returned to the moment on Monday, using it to knock Harris, rather than Biden.
\u201cIn two days, we are going to take out the trash in Washington, D.C.,\u201d Vance said, \u201cand the trash\u2019s name is Kamala Harris.\u201d\u00a0
\u2212 Josh Meyer<\/em> and Savannah Kuchar<\/em>
“So far, it’s just been smooth sailing, by and large,” Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said of voting on Election Day in the Peach State at a Tuesday morning press conference.
The average line time in Georgia is currently two minutes and the average check-in on electronic poll pads is taking just 49 seconds, he said.
Georgia already saw huge turnout during its early voting period, which closed Friday, with more than 4 million people casting votes<\/a>. In 2020, about 2.7 million voters<\/a> cast ballots during the early voting period.
Raffensperger suggested short wait times in the state were boosting voters’ willingness to make their voices heard. “It’s just solid, steady, and it’s more than you would think because the lines are moving so quickly \u2013 people in and out in less than 10 minutes,” he said Tuesday.
\u2013 Aysha Bagchi<\/em>
In the midst of one of the most divisive and polarizing elections in recent memory, some Americans want to\u00a0make their neighbors laugh again<\/a>.\u00a0In Goffstown, New Hampshire, Andy Brown decided to plant his own politcial lawn sign: \u201cAndy Brown: Not running for anything. Just wanted a sign.\u201d\u00a0
Soon a friend of a friend surprised Brown by adding another sign “paid for by friends of Andy Brown.” So, Brown doubled down on the joke and put up a 3-foot-by-5-foot custom banner with a new campaign slogan. \u201cI like big signs, I cannot lie\u201d \u2212 a creative riff on Sir Mix-A-Lot lyrics.
In Arvada, Colorado, Mollie, a Labrador, is running for president against her next-door neighbor Chloe, a terrier. The two stumping canines share a common platform:\u00a0\u201cMore treats, less squirrels.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Read more humorous takes on the election here<\/a>.
\u2212 Jessica Guynn and Bailey Schulz<\/em>
Congressional election 2024 live updates<\/strong>: Who will have control of the House, Senate?<\/a>
Democrats in North Carolina fear the state’s new voter ID law<\/a> could deter turnout or result in votes being thrown out from core constituencies: the elderly, students, racial minorities and low-income voters. A lawsuit by North Carolina Republicans, for example, blocked University of North Carolina Chapel Hill students from using their mobile digital IDs to vote<\/a> after the State Board of Elections approved the use.
All voters are still allowed to vote with or without a photo ID, according to the board, but any voter who cannot show identification must fill out a form explaining why before casting a provisional ballot that is susceptible to being challenged before the final tally is certified.
Matt Mercer, spokesman for the North Carolina GOP, said the state\u2019s record 4.2 million in-person early voting ballots undercuts \u201cradical\u201d Democrat\u2019s criticisms about the law\u2019s impact.
\u201cWe trust the voters of North Carolina and their common sense belief that identification should be required,\u201d he said.
Both major parties expect court battles over voter rolls, mail-in ballots and overseas ballots as\u00a0polls show an incredibly tight contest<\/a>\u00a0between\u00a0Harris<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Trump<\/a>.\u00a0Election officials are on guard for equipment failures and software issues that snarled some local vote counts in prior elections \u2013 as well as violent threats that have\u00a0infected the democratic process<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0
Trump has refused to commit to accepting Tuesday\u2019s results, and he and many of his supporters assert that only rampant fraud by non-citizen voters could\u00a0explain a possible loss<\/a>.\u00a0Live updates on Election Day snags an be found here<\/a>.
\u2212 Bart Jansen, Aysha Bagchi and Dan Morrison<\/em>
What is the Electoral College?<\/strong>What to know for Election Day 2024<\/a>
On Tuesday, the Harris-Walz campaign will host its election night<\/a> event at Howard University<\/a> in Washington, D.C., Harris\u2019 alma mater. If elected, she will be the first U.S. president to graduate from a historically Black college and university (HBCU).
Donald Trump<\/a>‘s presidential campaign will host an\u00a0election<\/a>\u00a0watch party in his home county on Nov. 5, but the event will not be at\u00a0Mar-a-Lago<\/a>. Instead, the festivities will take place at the\u00a0Palm Beach County Convention Center<\/a>. The venue swap suggests the campaign is expecting a crush of national and international media, donors and supporters for what his backers expect will be a victory celebration.
\u2212 Antonio Fins and Terry Moseley<\/em>
Are banks, post offices open?<\/strong>Here’s what we know<\/a>
While voters head to the polls, their children may be enjoying their day off as many schools nationwide are not open Tuesday<\/a> because of safety concerns, because they are polling sites or because they recognize Election Day as a public holiday. Fourteen states have deemed Election Day a public holiday, according to the\u00a0Monument Advancement Movement<\/a>. Here is an overview of how states will handle school on Election Day.
Many people will be trying to knock out regular day-to-day errands, such as picking up dry cleaning or going to the bank. Good news: Most banks are open<\/a>. And the Postal Service will deliver mail.
While\u00a0Election Day is not a federal holiday<\/a>, many state offices are closed and 24 states offices, plus the District of Columbia, offer paid time off to vote. Other states offer time off for voting but with no pay.
Are schools closed?<\/strong>Here’s what to know before polls open<\/a>
Election Day 2024 is here, and Harris and Trump are neck-and-neck in the polls. In Real Clear Politics’ average of national surveys, Trump leads Harris by 0.1 percentage point, well within the margin of error for each of the surveys included.
The Democratic and Republican nominees are also close in the swing states. For example, Harris leads Trump 0.4 percentage points in Real Clear Politics’ average of Wisconsin polls.
Got election questions?\u00a0Sign up<\/a>\u00a0for USA TODAY’s On Politics newsletter for breaking news and exclusive analysis.<\/em><\/strong>
Although Harris and Trump’s visions for solving Americans\u2019 largest problems differ, both have pledged to address inflation, lower taxes and support Israel in its war against Hamas. They have also both committed to ending federal taxes on tips.\u00a0
Still, Harris and Trump have seriously different pitches for the nation. They diverge most on climate change, reproductive rights and gun control.\u00a0If you’re still undecided between the Democratic and Republican nominees, check out USA TODAY’s voter guide<\/a> to see what Trump and Harris have said about major issues, in their own words.
Across the country, polling hours on Nov. 5 will vary by location.\u00a0\u00a0
Most states will allow voters to cast their ballots from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. However,\u00a0in some areas of Vermont, polls opened as early as 5 a.m., and in\u00a0New York, polls will close as late as 9 p.m. Check with your\u00a0state or local election office<\/a>\u00a0or its website to find the correct window when you can vote in your area.\u00a0
USA TODAY\u2019s Voter Guide<\/a>\u00a0details everything you need to know about making sure your voice is heard in this year\u2019s general election.\u00a0\u00a0
At noon on the eve of\u00a0Election Day<\/a>, the familiar mix of tourists, locals, and government workers seeking fresh air on lunch hour milled as usual in Lafayette Square, next to the White House in downtown Washington, D.C. They were met with an unusual sight \u2013 a heavy, metal fence<\/a> around 10 feet high surrounded the White House, the street in front and a bronze statue of former President Andrew Jackson astride his horse at the center of the park.
The Secret Service’s decision to erect the fence ahead of Election Day left tourists frustrated and Americans on edge at the\u00a0prospect of violence<\/a>\u00a0or unrest in the nation’s capital amid an extraordinarily tight election.
To some, the fences were a bad omen ahead of an election that’s been marked by\u00a0threats of violence<\/a>. “You see all the fences around here, and you wonder,” said Mike Longmeyer, 64, visiting the capital from Redlands, California.
\u2212 Cybele Mayes-Osterman<\/em>
It’s been a presidential campaign marked by shocking, historic moments. Trump faced two assassination attempts<\/a>, including a devastating shooting at a rally over the summer where one attendee, Corey Comperatore<\/a>, was killed.
President Joe Biden<\/a> became the first incumbent president in decades to not to seek a second term in office after a disastrous debate performance, clearing the way for Harris.
Millions of Americans will cast a vote for the next president of the United States but votes from the Electoral College<\/a> are what send a candidate into office. The system grants\u00a0electoral\u00a0votes to the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on their population. \u00a0
There are 538 electors nationwide and a candidate needs 270 of them to win the White House. Many states give all of their electoral votes to one candidate, in a winner-take-all system, but Maine and Nebraska can split their votes up.\u00a0
Because of this voting structure, a candidate can win the election despite losing the popular vote, like Trump did in 2016. \u00a0
\u2212 Sarah Gleason\u00a0<\/em>
It depends where you live. Each state handles its elections differently, ranging from weeks-long early voting periods to strict voter ID laws.\u00a0
For example, key swing states that Trump and Harris are vying for, such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, aren’t permitted to start processing absentee and mail-in ballots until Election Day, which is expected to slow down the count.\u00a0\u00a0
If you\u2019re looking for a comparison, in 2020, it took four days for all of the votes to be counted, resulting in Biden’s victory on Nov. 7. \u00a0
\u2013 Sam Woodward \u00a0<\/em>
The next presidential inauguration day is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.\u00a0
Every four years the ceremony takes place at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC. This year, inauguration day will fall on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Editor’s note: This page reflects the news on the campaign trail for the\u00a02024 election\u00a0Tuesday, Nov. 5. For the\u00a0latest news and results from the presidential election, read USA TODAY’s\u00a0live updates on former President Donald Trump’s victory.Former President Donald Trump won a second term in office on Tuesday, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 race […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":114260,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}