Live updates: Trump closes in on a victory, GOP reclaims Senate majority

WASHINGTON — Republican Donald Trump wins Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina, capturing three of the seven heavily contested battlegrounds and coming within a few electoral votes of winning the presidency.

Republicans reclaimed control of the Senate, picking up seats in West Virginia and Ohio. 

Top House races are focused in New York and California, where Democrats are trying to claw back some of the 10 or so seats where Republicans have made surprising gains in recent years.

This story will provide live updates throughout the day and into the evening on the presidential election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, control of the U.S. Senate and House, other major races and any significant news developments around the elections. 

All times are Eastern.

Donald Trump made sure to recognize GOP wins in down ballot races in his speech in the early morning Wednesday.

“The number of victories in the senate was absolutely incredible,” Trump said.

Republicans have so far won 51 seats, giving them a majority. But Montana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada have not been called, and it’s possible Republicans could pick up more seats.

Trump also said he expected Republicans to hold the House and complimented House Speaker Mike Johnson. The House, however, is still up for grabs.

There are over 70 House races across the country that have not been called, and neither party has a convincing edge in the tally of House races.

He promised that he would “not rest until we have delivered the strong safe and prosperous America.”

“Every single day,” Trump said, “I will be fighting for you with every breath in my body.”

The AP’s current count has him at 267 of the 270 electoral votes he needs to win the White House. He is leading in key races left to be called, including Michigan and Wisconsin.

Vice President Kamala Harris carried Minnesota on Wednesday on a ticket with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, extending a winning streak for Democrats that goes back 52 years.

Trump’s victory in Pennsylvania has put him three electoral votes short of winning the presidency. He could win the White House by capturing Alaska or any remaining swing state.

Former President Donald Trump won Pennsylvania on Wednesday, defeating Democrat Kamala Harris in the critical battleground state. Both candidates campaigned vigorously in the state, visiting it more often than any other. 

Trump supporters gathered at his election night watch party were hugging one another, making calls, jumping up and down, and throwing their MAGA hats in the air every chance they got to celebrate as results continued to trickle in.

Guests are still arriving at the convention center in West Palm Beach.

Voters in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, the more conservative of the state’s two congressional districts, delivered an electoral vote to Republican Donald Trump on Wednesday. Maine is one of two states that divide their electoral votes with two votes going to the statewide winner and one vote apiece to the winner of reach congressional district. 

Vice President Kamala Harris won New Hampshire on Wednesday, continuing the state’s two-decade-long streak of awarding its four electoral votes to Democrats. 

With Senate control going to the Republicans, the race for the House is being played out district-by-district in dozens of competitive elections.

For Republicans, it’s a chance to gain full control of Congress as they try to sweep into power. For Democrats, a House majority will give them an important check on the GOP’s power and force compromise in Washington.

House races are being decided across the country, from hard-fought races in New York to elections in California where it could still take days to determine a winner.

Republican Donald Trump won the electoral vote tied to Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District on Wednesday. The former president easily bested Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris in the district that includes Nebraska’s capital city of Lincoln and surrounding rural areas. 

Former President Donald Trump won the swing state of Georgia on Wednesday, returning its 16 electoral votes to the Republican column. 

Joe Biden narrowly carried Georgia in 2020, but Republicans have won every other Georgia presidential vote since 1996. 

He’s expected to speak tonight to his gathered supporters.

As midnight approached on the East Coast, the Harris campaign turned off its projected broadcasts of CNN at its election night watch party at Howard University. Instead, various high-energy remixes blared from speakers alongside floodlights flickering in tempo to hype the crowd.

The cheers in the crowd had become less frequent as more results came in from battleground states showing a tight race or victories for Trump.

Some attendees began leaving the event though the vast majority of rallygoers remained. 

Harris was not expected to speak at the party, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose the vice president’s schedule.

“Voted for the first time – for his dad,” she shared on X.

Barron Trump turned 18 years old in March and began his freshman year at New York University this fall.

Democrat Kamala Harris won the electoral vote tied to Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District on Wednesday. The sitting vice president defeated Republican and former President Donald Trump in the district centered on Nebraska’s largest city of Omaha and its surrounding suburbs.

Vice President Kamala Harris won Hawaii and the state’s four electoral votes on Wednesday. It’s the 10th straight presidential election in which Hawaii has selected the Democratic Party candidate. 

Vice President Kamala Harris won Virginia on Tuesday, adding 13 electoral votes to her tally. Harris’ victory marks the third time Donald Trump has lost the Old Dominion state. 

Kamala Harris won New Mexico on Tuesday, adding five electoral votes to Democrats’ tally. The Democratic Party’s influence in New Mexico has only grown over the last two decades, with former President George W. Bush being the last Republican to win the state in 2004

Kamala Harris won Oregon on Tuesday, adding eight electoral votes to her tally. Oregon has one more electoral vote this cycle than it did in the previous presidential election after gaining a congressional seat following the 2020 census. 

Former President Donald Trump won the battleground state of North Carolina on Tuesday. Trump receives the state’s 16 electoral votes after defeating Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. 

A judge has ordered polling places to remain open two extra hours in nine precincts in an eastern Arizona county after a rocky start to Election Day that included malfunctioning equipment and a lack of printed ballots.

Apache County Superior Court Judge Michael Latham agreed to keep the polls open at the request of the Navajo Nation, which filed a lawsuit asking for extended hours due to the problems.

Meanwhile, bomb threats to polling places at schools in neighboring Navajo County prompted some to close momentarily and one to evacuate and send students home for the day.

Authorities said they received email bomb threats at four locations in Navajo County, including at least three polling sites. They determined the threats were not credible.

Kamala Harris won California on Tuesday, giving her the largest prize in the presidential election – 54 electoral votes. The outcome in the heavily Democratic state where Harris previously served as a U.S. senator and attorney general was expected. 

Former President Donald Trump won Idaho for the third consecutive election on Tuesday, adding four electoral votes to his tally. 

Vice President Kamala Harris won Washington’s 12 electoral votes on Tuesday, besting former President Donald Trump in a state where he is not popular. 

Voters in Maine’s 1st Congressional District, which is comprised of wealthy coastal communities, delivered an electoral vote to Democrat Kamala Harris on Tuesday. Maine is one of two states that divide electoral votes with two votes going to the statewide winner and one apiece to the winner of each congressional district.

At 10 p.m. EST, polls will close in Montana, Nevada, and Utah.

A “pray and watch party” is underway at Detroit’s Historic King Solomon Baptist Church, which features a rotating group of pastors saying a prayer as results roll in and about two dozen attendees.

When TV coverage of the election goes to commercial, a pastor takes to the pulpit and says a few words.

“I am so glad we are here,” said the Rev. Charles Williams II, the event’s host. “If I was at home, I would turn off the TV and go to bed.“Because this is challenging,” Williams said, reflecting the anxiety in the room filled with Harris supporters.

Former President Donald Trump won Iowa on Tuesday, claiming the state’s six electoral votes. Formerly considered a swing state, Iowa has proved to be a clear example of Trump’s appeal among Republican voters and his staying power in the GOP. 

Former President Donald Trump won Kansas and its six electoral votes on Tuesday. 

Vice President Kamala Harris won the District of Columbia on Tuesday, securing the capital’s three electoral votes. Harris’ win in D.C. is no surprise – the District is a longtime Democratic stronghold whose government repeatedly feuded with Republican Donald Trump when he was the president. 

Kamala Harris won Colorado on Tuesday, picking up the state’s 10 electoral votes. Colorado was once a purple state, flipping between Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, but it has shifted blue in the past two decades. 

Former President Donald Trump won Montana for the third consecutive election on Tuesday, adding four electoral votes to his tally. Montana has one more electoral vote this cycle than it did in the previous two, as the state received an additional congressional seat following the 2020 census. 

Donald Trump won Utah and its six electoral votes on Tuesday. The Mountain West state is a rare Republican stronghold that has in past elections only half-heartedly supported Trump, whose brash style and comments about immigrants do not sit right with some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Republican Donald Trump won the reliably conservative state of Missouri on Tuesday, defeating Democrat Kamala Harris. Missouri voters overwhelmingly favored Trump over Democrats in the 2016 and 2020 elections, and he was favored to win again this year.

There has been little surprise in results so far with polls across most of the country having closed.

Trump won Republican-leaning states including Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas, while Harris won a swath of New England and the Northeast including New Jersey and New York.

Meanwhile, attention is gravitating toward the Eastern battleground states of Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Republican Donald Trump won the electoral vote tied to Nebraska’s vast, rural 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday. The former president easily defeated Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris in the state’s most conservative of its three districts, covering 80 counties and two time zones. 

In comparison to 2020, nearly all of Florida has moved right during this presidential election cycle.

Miami-Dade County saw the greatest increase, with an 18 percentage point shift right. It was enough to move the county from the Democrats’ column in 2020 to the Republicans’ this year.

Former President Donald Trump won Texas for the third consecutive election on Tuesday, adding 40 electoral votes to his tally. 

Republican Donald Trump carried Ohio for a third time on Tuesday, defeating Democratic nominee Kamala Harris to capture the state’s 17 electoral votes.

Republican Donald Trump won the statewide popular vote in Nebraska for the third consecutive election on Tuesday, receiving two electoral college votes. 

Nebraska is one of two states that divide electoral votes with two votes going to the statewide winner and one apiece to the winner of each congressional district.

Vice President Kamala Harris won New York’s presidential contest on Tuesday, picking up the state’s 28 electoral votes. 

Former President Donald Trump beat Vice President Kamala Harris in deep-red Wyoming to win the least-populated state’s three electoral votes on Tuesday. 

Former President Donald Trump won North Dakota’s three electoral votes on Tuesday. His victory continues a decadeslong streak of Republican presidential wins in the conservative state known for its agriculture and energy production.

Former President Donald Trump won South Dakota’s three electoral votes for president Tuesday. The Republican nominee had been expected to prevail comfortably in a state where GOP voters outnumber Democrats by more than 2-to-1. 

Former President Donald Trump won Louisiana on Tuesday for the third consecutive presidential election, increasing his electoral vote tally by eight.

Vice President Kamala Harris won Illinois on Tuesday, claiming the state’s 19 electoral votes for Democrats. The reliably blue state, the home of former President Barack Obama, has supported Democratic presidential candidates since 1992. 

Democrat Kamala Harris won Delaware’s presidential contest Tuesday, easily defeating Republican Donald Trump. Harris’ victory in solid-blue Delaware was a foregone conclusion, given the stranglehold Democrats have held on the state’s three electoral votes for decades. 

Vice President Kamala Harris won New Jersey’s 14 electoral votes on Tuesday. Harris’ victory over Republican Donald Trump continues Democrats’ dominance in the state, which has gone with the Democratic candidate for president in every election since 1988. 

Vice President Kamala Harris won New Jersey’s 14 electoral votes on Tuesday. Harris’ victory over Republican Donald Trump continues Democrats’ dominance in the state, which has gone with the Democratic candidate for president in every election since 1988. 

Trump posted a clip on his social networks asking Republican voters to “stay in line.”

“We’re doing really well. If you’re in line, stay in line,” he says in the 13-second clip. “Don’t let them take you off that line.”

The clip was shared on various social networks.

Vice President Kamala Harris won Maryland and its 10 electoral votes on Tuesday. Maryland is a heavily Democratic state that is home to many federal workers next to the nation’s capital.

Former President Donald Trump won Oklahoma and its seven electoral votes on Tuesday, defeating Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Former President Donald Trump won Tennessee on Tuesday, keeping the firmly Republican state and its 11 electoral votes in his win column. 

Vice President Kamala Harris won Connecticut on Tuesday, extending the state’s long trend of supporting Democratic presidential candidates and adding seven electoral votes to her tally. 

Vice President Kamala Harris won Massachusetts on Tuesday, continuing a decadeslong streak of victories for Democratic presidential candidates in the Bay State.

Vice President Kamala Harris won Rhode Island on Tuesday, giving her four electoral votes and continuing the Democrats’ dominance in the state.

Donald Trump won Florida on Tuesday for the third consecutive election, earning the state’s 30 electoral votes. Once a crucial battleground state, Florida has been drifting toward the Republican Party in recent years.

Former President Donald Trump won South Carolina on Tuesday, earning its nine electoral votes for the third straight election.

Former President Donald Trump won Alabama for the third consecutive election on Tuesday, adding nine electoral votes to the Republican’s tally.

Former President Donald Trump won Mississippi on Tuesday, claiming the state’s six electoral votes and continuing a long winning streak for Republicans.

Former President Donald Trump won West Virginia for the third straight presidential election cycle on Tuesday. The victory adds four electoral votes to the former president’s count

A senior official at the federal cybersecurity agency says no nationwide security problems are threatening the integrity of the elections, and is pushing back on claims of fraud in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania.

Cait Conley, a senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told reporters that though officials have responded to bomb threats, disinformation and other problems, there are no major incidents with a national-level impact.

Asked about claims of widespread fraud in Pennsylvania being advanced by Donald Trump and some of his supporters, Conley said federal officials had been in close contact with their state and local counterparts across the country and “we see no data or reporting to support these claims.”

Multiple Pennsylvania officials, including Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, have also said they had not seen any signs of cheating and have called the election secure.

Vice President Kamala Harris won the Democratic stronghold of Vermont on Tuesday. The small state has voted in favor of Democratic candidates in the previous eight presidential elections.

Republican Donald Trump won the presidential election in Indiana on Tuesday, the Associated Press declared. The reliably conservative state, where Republicans have held the governor’s office for 20 years, gave Trump its 11 electoral votes over Democrat Kamala Harris.

Former President Donald Trump won Kentucky for the third consecutive election on Tuesday, adding eight electoral votes to his tally. The Republican nominee for president has won Kentucky in every election since Democrat Bill Clinton carried the Bluegrass State in 1996. 

At 7 p.m. EST, polls will close in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia, though some areas of Indiana and Kentucky closed at 6 p.m.

At 7:30 p.m. EST, polls will close in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia.

Ahead of poll closures in Pennsylvania, Trump said on his social media platform that there was “talk about massive cheating in Philadelphia” and said law enforcement was on the way.

He did not provide details, and there was no immediate indication of what he was referring to, and his spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment about what he meant.

Election Day voting had proceeded relatively smoothly across Pennsylvania, with a few counties reporting problems with ballot tabulators.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner issued a statement responding to Trump’s post, saying the only suggestion of cheating was coming from the Republican presidential nominee.

“There is no factual basis whatsoever within law enforcement to support this wild allegation,” Krasner said. “We have invited complaints and allegations of improprieties all day. If Donald J. Trump has any facts to support his wild allegations, we want them now. Right now. We are not holding our breath.”

Polls in a few Indiana districts across the state and polls on the eastern side of Kentucky are the first to close in the nation.

The first large poll closing comes at 7 p.m. EST. That closure includes most of Florida, all of Georgia and Virginia, among others.

Election officials in Milwaukee are recounting more than 30,000 absentee ballots because doors on the ballot tabulators were not properly sealed.

The recounting was being done “out of an abundance of caution,” said Melissa Howard, spokesperson for the Milwaukee Election Commission.

There was no reason to believe that any ballots already counted had been tampered with, she said.

Howard said they were taking the step of recounting all of the ballots in an effort to be “completely, fully transparent.” The problem was due to human error, she said.

The decision will delay the reporting of about 105,000 absentee ballots that could determine whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump win Wisconsin.

Kerstin Emhoff, second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s ex-wife, posted a video casting a vote for Harris.

“I’ve been so moved by watching emotional videos posted by people after voting for Kamala & Tim,” she wrote. “Voting for our daughters, wives, sisters, from red and blue states. This is that moment. I proudly cast my vote for my friend and family Kamala Harris!”

Kerstin Emhoff has been a vocal supporter of Harris’ campaign, including attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Voters arriving at a polling place in Jacksonville, Florida, were diverted to another voting location for a short time Tuesday after a suspicious package was found outside.

Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said in an email that about 20 voters were sent to other locations for about 40 minutes before operations at the polling place resumed. The package ended up being the personal belongings of a homeless person, he said.

The FBI did not identify the states in question, but Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said earlier Tuesday that the state’s election process had snuffed out some bomb threats that he said came from Russia.

Officials in Fulton County, Georgia, said they received “multiple calls,” and the threats forced a brief closure of two polling places.

The bomb threats were among multiple disturbances that U.S. officials are tracking.

But Cait Conley, a senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told reporters on a call Tuesday there were no national-level security incidents that were threatening to disrupt the election on a wide scale.

Officials continue to warn of what they say is an unprecedented level of foreign influence and disinformation that they expect will persist beyond Election Day.

U.S. Capitol Police say the man was stopped Tuesday during a security screening at the Capitol Visitor Center. Authorities say he smelled of fuel and was carrying the flare gun and torch.

Officials have canceled public tours of the Capitol for the remainder of the day.

Police say they are still investigating.

The arrest comes as authorities are on heightened alert for security issues around the nation’s capital and have increased patrols in areas downtown and near the White House around Election Day. Nearly four years ago, a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Asked about the measure, which would keep the state’s six-week restriction in place, he avoided answering by simply saying he’d done “a great job bringing it back to the states.”

The second time, he snapped at a reporter, saying: “You should stop talking about it.”

Trump had previously indicated he would back the measure, but then changed his mind, saying he would vote against it.

The abortion measure would prevent lawmakers from passing any law that penalizes, prohibits, delays or restricts abortion until fetal viability, which doctors say is sometime after 21 weeks. If it’s rejected, the state’s current abortion law would stand.

Donald Trump could make history as the only U.S. President to win election twice while losing the popular vote both times. 

In the nation’s history, there have only been five times when a president has won the Electoral College while failing to secure the popular vote. The last time was when Trump won in 2016. 

Read More: When has a president won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote?

A news clip that purports to come from the FBI tells voters that they should vote remotely because of a high terror threat at polling stations.

But the FBI said that the clip is bogus, did not come from the bureau and does not accurately represent concerns about safety at polling locations.

Also false is a video depicting a fabricated FBI press release claiming that the management of prisons in several key battleground states rigged inmate voting and colluded with one of the political parties.

The FBI did not identify anyone who it thought might be responsible for the manufactured videos. Over the past two weeks, the agency has blamed Russian influence actors for a variety of manufactured internet postings and videos officials say were released as part of a broader disinformation campaign.

It’s raining across much of the nation’s midsection this morning and forecasters say storms are possible in large swaths of the country later today.

In Houston, local television cameras showed voters huddled together under umbrellas as they waited to enter polling locations. In Miami Lakes, Florida, at least one voter held a sample ballot over his head in a largely futile effort to fend off a quick downpour.

And it’s not just rain in the forecast. Voters in Colorado and Montana might see snow later today, forecasters say.

The attorneys general from 47 states and three U.S. territories are urging people to remain peaceful and to preemptively “condemn any acts of violence related to the results.”

The statement, released Tuesday, was signed by chief prosecutors from every U.S. state except Indiana, Montana and Texas. Attorneys general from the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands and U.S. Virgin Islands also signed.

“We call upon every American to vote, participate in civil discourse and, above all, respect the integrity of the democratic process,” they wrote. “Violence has no place in the democratic process; we will exercise our authority to enforce the law against any illegal acts that threaten it.”

Fears of election violence persist nearly four years after Trump supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the election certification. Rather than condemning the violence during his campaign, Trump has celebrated the rioters, pledging to pardon them and featuring a recorded chorus of prisoners in jail for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack singing the national anthem.

Businesses around the White House on Tuesday morning continued to board up windows and erect temporary fencing, precautions being taken amid worries that Election Day — and the days ahead — could lead to unrest.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser says the police department is also stepping up its presence in commercial districts in all eight wards of the city. Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith at a Monday new conference also sought to assure the city’s residents that her department is prepared for whatever Election Day might bring.

“Our team has been fully engaged and vigilant,” she said. “We are the best in the country at what we do, and we will keep working around the clock to keep Washington, D.C., safe and keep our residents safe.”

Voters in nine states will decide on abortion-related measures in 2024. Abortion rights advocates have succeeded in all seven initiatives nationwide since the 2022 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, but Tuesday marks the biggest chance for voters to make their preferences known on the issue. 

Passing certain amendments in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota likely would lead to undoing bans or restrictions that currently block varying levels of abortion access to more than 7 million women of childbearing age who live in those states.

The future legality and availability of abortion hinges not only on ballot measures, as policies could shift depending on who controls Congress and the presidency. Same with state governments — including legislatures that pursue new laws, state supreme courts that determine the laws’ constitutionality, attorneys general who decide whether to defend them and district attorneys who enforce them.

If all the abortion rights measures pass, “it’s a sign of how much of a juggernaut support for reproductive rights has become,” said Mary Ziegler, a professor at the University of California Davis School of Law and an expert on the history of reproductive rights in the U.S.

“If some of them fail,” she added, “then you’re going to see some conservatives looking for guidance to see what the magic ingredient was that made it possible for conservatives to stem the tide.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump both spent the waning hours of their campaigns in the well-trodden swing states of Pennsylvania and Michigan, widely seen as critical to winning the White House.

Harris wrapped her day in Philadelphia, where Lady Gaga sang “God Bless America” and Oprah Winfrey appeared on stage with first-time voters. Ricky Martin, who is from Puerto Rico, was also there to draw out Puerto Rican voters turned off by a comedian who called their homeland a “floating island of garbage” at a recent Trump rally.

“Our people-powered movement reflects a simple and undeniable truth: that we are all in this together,” Harris said.

Harris didn’t arrive at the vice president’s residence, the Naval Observatory, until 1:41 a.m.

Trump, meanwhile, spent the final hours of the day in Grand Rapids, Michigan, wrapping up around 2 a.m.

He took shots at Harris for campaigning alongside celebrities.

“We don’t need a star because we have policy. We have great policy,” he said. Later, he boasted of his own stars: “So many celebrities here, it’s incredible: Mike Pompeo, please stand up,” introducing his former secretary of state.

Trump landed in Florida around 6 a.m.

In a presidential election that appears to be incredibly close, it was fitting that the first votes cast on Election Day were evenly split, with three for Donald Trump and three for Kamala Harris.

The tiny New Hampshire resort town of Dixville Notch has a tradition dating back to 1960 of being the first in the nation to complete in-person voting. The town’s six voters began casting their ballots on the stroke of midnight Tuesday and the vote count was complete 15 minutes later.

In an election where tensions have run high, the setting in Dixville Notch couldn’t have been more congenial. Voting took place in the living room of the Tillotson House, with cookies and coffee and a couple of very friendly dogs.