Note: This is a developing story.
Former President and Republican candidate Donald J. Trump has won the 2024 presidential election in a stunning victory, going undefeated in all seven battleground states.
The Republican candidate beat Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris after a race considered to be among the closest and most consequential in recent history.
Trump won with at least 270 electoral votes, while Harris received just 214 votes.
The president-elect also won the popular vote, indicating a red wave has swept across the country.
Trump now becomes the second president in U.S. history to win non-consecutive elections. Grover Cleveland won the vote in 1885 and 1893, serving as the 22nd and 24th president.
Trump won important battleground states including North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
Harris won Washington, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Illinois, Virginia, and the New England States. She did not pick up any of the battleground states.
In addition, Republicans have clinched control of the Senate. After picking up seats in West Virginia and Ohio and winning an unexpectedly close race in Nebraska, the G.O.P. had enough for a majority.
Numerous polls leading up to Election Day showed Trump and Harris tied. According to 538’s forecast, both candidates had a roughly equal chance to win, though Harris was projected to win in its final poll.
The final slate of polls from The New York Times and Siena College released Sunday showed that Harris appeared to have a slight lead in enough states to win the Electoral College.
The polls had Harris ahead in Nevada, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Georgia. Trump and Harris were tied in Pennsylvania and Michigan while Trump was ahead in Arizona, though every result was within the margin of error.
Harris would have had at least 274 electoral votes, enough to take the White House, if those results were realized after Election Day.
For Democrats, and especially those who tried and failed to elect Hillary Clinton the first woman President in 2016, this has been an election filled with terrifying optimism, with Harris’ supporters vacillating between hope and fear.
Voters have mostly been concerned about the state of the economy, but in recent months immigration has emerged as another policy issue as an almost-equally high priority for Republicans.
According to an August/September Pew Research Center poll, the most important issue for Trump voters are the economy (93%), immigration (82%), and violent crime (76%).
Harris supporters, by comparison, said they were most concerned with health care (76%), Supreme Court appointments (73%) and the economy (68%).
What’s next?
All states must certify their official results by 11 December.
But many key states have earlier deadlines. Georgia, for example, must certify its final tally by 22 November, while Michigan and Pennsylvania have until 25 November.
The next step takes place six days later, on 17 December, when presidential “electors” meet and send their states’ results to Congress.
The electoral votes must be received by the President of the Senate – the Vice President, in this case Harris – by 25 December.
If the election results are officially accepted, the presidential nominee – in this case Trump – will be sworn in to office at noon on January 20, 2025 at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC.