Former President Donald Trump won North Carolina and surged to leads in most of the key swing states late Tuesday night as he inches closer to the 270 Electoral College votes he needs to win the presidency.
With North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes, Trump is at 232 electoral votes.
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.
After North Carolina fell in Trump’s favor, as of midnight Eastern, he holds a lead over Harris in most of the swing states. In Georgia, Trump leads 50.8% to 48.5%, with 93% of votes counted. Trump also leads in in Pennsylvania, 51.4% to 47.6%, with 82% reporting; in Wisconsin, 51.2%-47.3%, with 75% of results in; in Michigan, 51.7% to 46.5% with 44% of the vote counted.
Arizona is virtually tied at 49% with 50% of results reported. No results had been reported in Nevada.
National media outlets are projecting Trump has already secured 232 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.
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.
