Trump Wins Pennsylvania, All But Assuring That he Will Win the 2024 Election
Trump has now notched swing-state victories in North Carolina,Georgia, and Pennsylvania, and he currently holds the lead in all four other “battleground” states.
Barring any upsets elsewhere, Trump has reached the 270-vote Electoral College majority necessary to win.
Harris did not address her supporters at a watch party at Howard University in Washington, DC on Tuesday night. She is expected to speak sometime on Wednesday.
The election has not yet been called in the battleground states of Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, or Wisconsin.
Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor and a key Harris surrogate, congratulated Trump on winning the election.
“You won fair and square,” Cuban wrote. “Congrats to @elonmusk as well. #Godspeed.”
At the time of Cuban’s post, Trump had 247 Electoral College votes but appeared likely to win Pennsylvania.
Other Republicans across the country have issued statements congratulating Trump on a victory.
Republicans are projected to win at least 51 seats in the US Senate, putting an end to four years of Democratic rule.
It comes after Republicans won Senate seats in Ohio and West Virginia that are currently held by Democrats. Republican Sen. Deb Fischer also held off a stronger-than-expected challenge from independent candidate Dan Osborn in Nebraska, and Democratic Sen. Jon Tester appeared to be trailing his GOP challenger as of early Wednesday morning.
It remains far from clear who will control the House of Representatives. Democrats picked up one GOP-held seat in New York’s 22nd congressional district and appeared to be in a strong position in Virginia’s 7th district, currently held by Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who is retiring to run for governor.
It could take days to know who controls the House, with several competitive races taking place in California, which historically takes a long time to count ballots.
Billionaire Elon Musk posted a photo of himself huddled with Trump over a table at Mar-a-Lago, where the former president is hosting his election watch party.
Musk has emerged as a key, if not the key, advocate for Trump’s campaign.
He has dumped millions into a super PAC supporting the former president, joined him at rallies, and campaigned loudly for him on X. The Tesla CEO has been tweeting as results roll in and celebrating Trump’s performance.
The future is gonna be so pic.twitter.com/x56cqb6oT5
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2024
Reproductive rights were a key issue this election, with voters deciding on abortion in 10 states tonight, including the battlegrounds of Arizona and Nevada.
Referendums to enshrine the right to abortion passed in New York, Maryland, and Colorado as was expected. The measure also passed in Missouri, overturning what had been a near-total ban in the first state to outlaw the procedure. Voters in suburban areas turned out to pass the measure in large numbers, propelling it to its anticipated victory.
In Florida, the effort to enshrine a constitutional right to abortion failed. Yet the referendum faced a heavier lift in the Sunshine State than is typical — it needed to garner 60% of votes rather than a mere majority, as is the case in other states.
The Florida abortion referendum’s expected failure is particularly notable, given that abortion rights advocates have racked up a string of unbroken victoriesin states around the country since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. As a result, Florida’s ban on almost all abortions after six weeks will remain in place — one of the most restrictive policies in the country.
Trump had previously announced that he would support the marijuana legalization referendum.
Tuesday’s election also saw some historic results.
In just one election, Democrats have doubled the number of Black women who have won election to the US Senate.
Prince George’s County executive Angela Alsobrooks and Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester were both projected to defeat their Republican opponents in Maryland and Delaware, respectively. It will be the highest number of Black women to serve in the upper chamber at the same time.
Only three Black women have served in the Senate: former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Sen. Laphonza Butler.
Meanwhile, Trump made history in Florida. He’s the first GOP presidential candidate to win Miami-Dade County since 1988, and his win there illustrates the phenomenal rightward swing of the Sunshine State.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton won Miami-Dade by 30 percentage points; in 2020, Biden won it by 7 percentage points. Trump is projected to win the county by double-digit margins, the Associated Press reported, with 95% of the vote counted.
There’s a significant Latino population in the county, and the key demographic group has started to move toward Republicans. Harris’ campaign didn’t spend a lot of money in Florida, considering the state, once a battleground, out of reach.
Investors are betting on a Trump victory, with a range of markets moving sharply on early election results.
The US dollar strengthened to a multi-month high, bitcoin hit a record high, and Treasuries sold off in moves that reflect the expected impact of a Trump presidency.
