US Election: Jubilation As Trump Moves Closer To Reclaiming White House
Republican candidate, Donald Trump has secured the highest votes in the battleground states of North Carolina and Georgia in Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election,
These results have indicated that Trump is the favourite to win the ongoing presidential election in the US even though results from five other states are yet to be announced.
However, Trump has shown strength across broad swaths of the country. He has won 246 Electoral College votes to Harris’ 182. A candidate needs at least 270 votes in the state-by-state Electoral College to claim the presidency.
Trump’s victories in North Carolina and Georgia left Harris with a narrow road to victory through the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, where she trailed in all three.
A campaign insider told Reuters that the former president planned to address supporters at a convention centre near his home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Republicans won a majority in the United States Senate after flipping Democratic seats in West Virginia and Ohio. Neither party appeared to have an advantage in the battle for control of the House of Representatives, where Republicans now enjoy a slim majority.
Trump picked up more support from Hispanics, traditionally Democratic voters, and lower-income households that have keenly felt the sting of price rises since the last presidential election in 2020, according to exit polls from Edison.
Trump won 45% of Hispanic voters nationwide, trailing Harris with 53% but up 13 percentage points from 2020.
Voters whose top issue was the economy voted overwhelmingly for Trump, especially if they felt they were worse off financially than they were four years ago.
About 31% of voters said the economy was their top issue, and they voted for Trump by a 79%-to-20% margin, according to exit polls. Some 45% of voters across the country said their family’s financial situation was worse off today than four years ago, and they favoured Trump 80% to 17% for Harris.
Trump’s victories in Georgia and North Carolina significantly bolster his presidential prospects.
Georgia, a battleground state that swung Democratic four years ago, has tipped in Trump’s favour. These wins narrow Kamala Harris’ paths to the presidency and boost Trump’s chances of reaching the 270 electoral votes needed to win.
Trump’s lead in these states is crucial, as Georgia and North Carolina each hold 16 electoral votes. According to recent polls, Trump holds a small lead over Harris in Georgia, 47% to 45%, and narrowly leads in North Carolina, 48% to 47%.
As a result, Harris is now heavily reliant on the “blue wall” states – Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – to remain viable in the presidential race. The mood at Harris’ election watch party at Howard University in Washington, D.C., her alma mater, turned somber, with attendees beginning to leave after midnight.
In a telling move, a top Harris ally dispersed supporters from her rally, and the Democratic vice president didn’t take the stage to address the crowd.
This development underscores the high stakes and shifting dynamics in the presidential election.
“We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted. That every voice has spoken,” Cedric Richmond, co-chair of the Harris campaign said, as quoted by AP. “So you won’t hear from the vice president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow. She will be back here tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, the Republican former president was set to address supporters early Wednesday from his campaign’s watch party in Florida.
Trump also won Florida, a one-time battleground that has shifted heavily to Republicans in recent elections. He also notched early wins in reliably Republican states such as Texas, South Carolina and Indiana. Harris won Virginia, a state Trump visited in the final days of the campaign, and took Democratic strongholds like New York, New Mexico and California. Harris also won an Electoral College vote in Nebraska that was contested by Republicans.
