Former President Donald Trump won North Carolina and Georgia and surged to leads in most of the key swing states late Tuesday night as he inched closer to the 270 Electoral College votes he needs to win back the presidency.
With North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes and Georgia’s 16, Trump is at 248. He also leads the national popular vote, 51.2% to 47.4%. In 2016, when Trump won the White House over Hillary Clinton, and in 2020, when he lost his reelection bid to 2020, Trump lost the national popular vote.
Results in the seven battlegrounds – Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada – are expected to determine the outcome of the presidential race between Republican nominee Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. Trump has won two and leads in the other five.
After North Carolina and Georgia fell in Trump’s favor, as of 1 a.m. Eastern, the former president holds leads over Harris in Pennsylvania, 51.2% to 47.8%, with 90% reporting; in Wisconsin, 51.4%-47.2%, with 84% of votes counted; in Michigan, 52.3% to 46.0% with 59% of returns reported; in Arizona, 49.9% to 49.2% with 51% of votes counted; and in Nevada, 50.9% to 47.5% with 20% in.
National media outlets are projecting Trump has already secured 248 electoral votes of the 270 needed to win the election. Trump won in Idaho, Iowa, Ohio, Texas, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, Louisiana, Wyoming, Arkansas, Indiana, West Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma and Kentucky.
Harris has secured 216 electoral votes by winning in California, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Hawaii, Maine, Colorado, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Illinois, Vermont, Maryland, Delaware and Rhode Island.
Cedric Richmond, co-chairman of the Harris campaign, addressed supporters early Wednesday, saying there were still plenty of votes to be counted. He also said Harris would not be making a statement until later Wednesday.
None of the called races are surprises.
One surprise could be in Virginia, where polling showed Harris with a significant advantage. With 75% of the vote counted Tuesday night, Harris holds a slight 50% to 48.4% lead.
As The Center Square reported Monday, Trump and Harris were virtually tied nationally going in to Election Day, according to Real Clear Politics’ polling average. More than 150 million Americans are expected to cast ballots this election.
Among the swing states that will decide the outcome, RCP had Trump leading Arizona by 2.5 points, Georgia by 1.9 points, Nevada by 1 point, North Carolina by 1.5 points, and Pennsylvania by 0.3 points.
In the same averaging of recent polls, Harris led Michigan by 1.2 points and Wisconsin by 0.4 points.
It remains to be seen if voters will know a winner by Wednesday morning.
