Former United States President Donald Trump has won the presidency again, defeating Democratic Party nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s election, according to the Associated Press.
Tens of millions of voters across the United States trooped to polling booths to cast their ballots for the presidential election and contests for the US Senate, House of Representatives, gubernatorial positions and down-ballot policy measures.
For weeks leading up to Election Day, pollsters had predicted a neck-and-neck race between former Trump and Harris.
But hours after as voting ended, a clear picture of the election outcome emerged even as the vote count continued in most states, and five states have not yet been called.
Here’s what happened — and the key takeaways from Election Day.
Where do Trump and Harris stand at the end of Election Night?
- Electoral College vote: Trump has secured 277 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press news agency, surpassing the 270 needed to win the election. The AP has projected results in 45 states, as well as the District of Columbia, where Harris is projected to win. It has called Trump wins in 27 of these states, and Harris in 18.
- National popular vote: The vote count is still under way, but according to AP, the vote tally for the popular vote stands at 51 percent votes for Trump and 47.5 percent for Harris. Trump has won more than 71.7 million votes, while Harris has won more than 66.9 million votes.
- Swing states: The election result hinges on the outcome of seven battleground states. Out of the swing states, AP has projected a Trump win in North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Who is leading in the remaining states?
- Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada are yet to be called.
- So far, Trump is leading in four of these five states: Arizona by 5 percentage points, Michigan by 2, Nevada by 5 and Alaska by 15.
- Harris is leading Maine by 9 percentage points.
Trump makes inroads into Black and Latino communities
Traditionally, Trump has earned criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike about his racist and derogatory comments about Black people.
However, this time, Republican efforts to appeal to Black and Latino voters appear to have paid off.
The Black voter demographic in the US has consistently voted Democrat in the past. But nationally, this year, Trump secured 20 percent of the Black vote, according to an exit poll by AP. He had won 12 percent of the community’s vote in 2020. The AP poll also showed Trump getting more Latino votes than in 2020.
Women’s votes
This was the first election since the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade ruling, ending a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy all over the US. Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for that verdict, which was made possible by his appointments of three conservative judges on the top court.
Trump and his running mate JD Vance have also been accused of multiple sexist comments.
And the Harris campaign has been highlighting Trump’s stance on reproductive rights in a bid to woo female voters, drawing out a contrast with herself, and her bid to become the first female president of the US.
However, early national exit polls, released while polling was ongoing, showed that Harris had won the support of 54 percent of women, lower than Biden did in 2020, when he had the support of 57 percent.
Changing trends of voters by age
Support for Harris slightly dwindled among young voters, according to an AP survey. About half of the voters aged below 30 supported Harris, according to the survey, compared with about 60 percent in the age group who supported Biden in 2020.
More than four out of 10 young voters supported Trump this year, which is an increase from the one-third who backed him in 2020.
In swing states Michigan and Wisconsin, Trump saw a five percentage point increase compared with 2020 among votes below 45 years, exit polls showed.
The Republican candidate lost some support among older voters. In Wisconsin, Trump lost 11 percentage points in support from voters aged above 65 compared with 2020, while in Michigan, he lost 6 percentage points in support from this demographic.
Congressional elections: Republicans flip Senate
The Republican Party gained control of the Senate, ending four years of Democrat leadership in the upper chamber of Congress.
As many as 33 Senate seats were up for grabs this year, making up roughly a third of the 100-seat chamber. Before this election, the Senate had 47 Democrats and four independent senators who caucused with the party, giving the Democrats the 51-member strength to make up the majority. The Democrats needed to hold on to every seat possible to stay in power. However, the Republicans — who previously had 49 members — claimed the Senate by flipping two seats.
In Ohio, Democrat incumbent Sherrod Brown lost his seat to Republican Bernie Moreno. In West Virginia, retiring independent Senator Joe Manchin’s seat was won by Republican Jim Justice, who defeated Democrat Glenn Elliot by a comfortable 41 percentage points margin.
Republicans held on to their seat in Texas, where Senator Ted Cruz won a third term. More than 60 races are yet to be called for the House. However, Republicans are polling high and have a chance to boost their 220-212 House majority.
Democrat Sarah McBride won the open House seat in Delaware, becoming the first transgender person to be elected to Congress.
