Topline
As voters make their final choices between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump—and in hundreds of congressional and state races, and ballot issues—Forbes will compile the biggest stories from the best news sources right here, until it’s all over.
Timeline
Trump Wins North CarolinaTrump has won North Carolina, the first swing state race called by The Associated Press Tuesday at 11:20 p.m., taking North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes and bringing Trump’s total count to 230 while Harris has 187—and ending Harris’ gambit to become the first Democrat to win the state since 2008.
Trump Leads In Most Swing StatesAs of 11 p.m., Trump has taken narrow leads in Pennsylvania (67% of votes were counted), Wisconsin (59% counted), Michigan (27%), Georgia (90%), Arizona (50%) and North Carolina (86%). Results in Nevada are still pending. The Associated Press has not called winners in any swing states.
Most Swing State Polls CloseNevada was the last swing state to close its polls at 10 p.m. EST Tuesday, but results in all seven battlegrounds were still pending. Trump has taken a narrow lead in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, with 54% and 48% of votes counted, while Harris slightly leads in Michigan and Arizona (20% and 48% counted, respectively). Trump also leads in North Carolina and Georgia, which have counted most of their ballots but are still too close to call. Meanwhile, Some polls in Arizona were extended to 11 p.m. EST after printer and voting machine malfunctions, and voters remain in line in parts of Nevada.
Trump Wins 18th StateTrump now has a 188-99 lead in the electoral college, as The Associated Press called Missouri for Trump just before 10 p.m. EST—but all seven crucial battlegrounds are too close to call.
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Voting Hours Extended At Some AZNine polling locations in Apache County, Ariz., will stay open two hours longer, until 9 p.m. MST, a state judge ruled Tuesday after reported printer and voting machine failures earlier in the day.
Harris Wins Fewer Latinos Than BidenLatino voters favored Harris at the polls, but less so than President Joe Biden, according to a CNN exit poll that found slightly more than half of Latino voters cast their ballots for Harris, compared to 65% for Biden—while Trump won Latino men, a demographic Biden won in 2020.
Trump Passes 75% On Betting MarketTrump’s odds of winning according to betting site Polymarket have soared above 75%—though it remains to be seen if the site will be predictive of the winner.
PA Bomb ThreatsA building in Bellefonte, Pa., that houses the Centre County Elections Office was temporarily evacuated after the elections office received a bomb threat that was deemed non-credible, officials said, noting it’s one of roughly a dozen Pennsylvania counties to receive bomb threats Tuesday. Polling places in several other swing states have faced non-credible bomb threats, which the FBI blamed on actors in Russia.
Eight More States CalledTrump won Texas, Ohio, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Louisiana and Wyoming, and Harris won New York in the AP’s latest round of calls made at about 9 p.m. EST.
GOP’s Robinson Loses N.C. Gov. RaceDemocrat Josh Stein beat Trump-backed Republican Mark Robinson to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, according to the Associated Press. Robinson came under fire in September when CNN reported he made a string of racist and sexually graphic remarks on a pornographic website chat forum before his entrance into politics, including referring to himself as a “black NAZI” (Robinson has denied the allegations).
Harris Wins IllinoisHarris claimed the state’s 19 electoral votes, the AP said at 8:38 p.m. EST.
Trump, Harris Pick Up More StatesTrump now leads the electoral map 101-52 as of 8:30 p.m. EST, as The Associated Press called Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma and Arkansas for Trump, and Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware for Harris. None of these results are surprising, and the AP has not made any calls in competitive states.
West Virginia Called For TrumpThe Associated Press declared Trump the winner of West Virginia around 7:30 p.m. EST, the third state called for Trump—another expected result.
Republicans Pick Up A Senate Seat In West VirginiaGov. Jim Justice decisively beat Democrat Glenn Elliott to fill the seat held by retiring Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin, according to the Associated Press, an expected pick-up for Republicans in the upper chamber that puts the GOP within striking distance of taking a Senate majority.
First States CalledAs expected, The Associated Press called Vermont for Harris, and Kentucky and Indiana for Trump, just after 7 p.m. EST Tuesday.
Trump Selling Merch On ElectionA Trump-linked entity emailed supporters on Election Day to sell Trump-themed merchandise, Forbes reports.
More Bomb ThreatsVoting has been suspended at five polling locations in DeKalb County after receiving bomb threats and they will seek to extend voting hours there, the county confirmed Tuesday night, after other bomb threats—linked to Russia—were reported in the state earlier in the day. Arizona officials said threats were also reported at four locations in Navajo County, which officials said they believed were linked to Russia.
First Votes Coming InThe first election results of the presidential race are coming in from Indiana and Kentucky, after polling closed in only some precincts at 6 p.m. EST. Early results show Trump with a commanding lead in the GOP-leaning states, per the Associated Press, though with only 5% or less of the estimated total votes counted, it’s still too early to predict how the results will pan out.
Milwaukee Recounting BallotsElection results in Milwaukee are expected to be delayed, as the city’s election commission said it will recount 31,000 ballots. The ballots—representing approximately a third of all mail-in ballots in the city—are being recounted out of an abundance of caution after workers noticed doors on the tabulation machines weren’t properly closed, The New York Times reports.
Trump’s Fraud Claims Struck DownPhiladelphia City Commissioner Seth Bluestein and District Attorney Larry Krasner struck down Trump’s claims on Truth Social on Tuesday that there’s “a lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia,” as the ex-president and his allies have pushed numerous false fraud claims in the state. “There is absolutely no truth to this allegation,” Bluestein said, calling voting in the city “safe and secure,” while Krasner said there’s “no factual basis whatsoever within law enforcement to support this wild allegation.”
White Voters Move On From TrumpNBC’s exit polling suggests white voters are moving away from supporting Trump while minority voters are doing the opposite. White voters went from 57% supporting Trump in 2020 to 49% now, while Latino voters went from 38% to 42% and Black voters from 10% to 14%. More voters are also now in favor of deporting “most” undocumented immigrants relative to 2016, NBC found, going up from 25% support to 39%.
First Exit Poll Data Comes InNBC News and CNN released their first exit pollresults, with both networks finding that voters’ most important issue is democracy (35%), followed by 31% prioritizing the economy and 14% choosing abortion. Both networks also found voters had a pessimistic view of the state of the nation, with approximately 40% telling CNN they’re dissatisfied and 43% saying the same to NBC, with 29% saying they’re “angry.”
Trump Blocks Reporter AccessReporters from multiple news outlets including Politico, Axios, Mother Jones and Puck were denied credentials or had their credentials revoked for Trump’s election night event in West Palm Beach, Florida. The denials came after the outlets published critical coverage of the former president, according to CNN. Other outlets are still expected to attend the event.
Michigan Polling Place ClosesA polling place in the swing state of Michigan was closed Tuesday afternoon following reports of a natural gas leak, according to the Associated Press. Voters were sent to different area precincts to cast their ballots.
Georgia Polling Place EvacuatedA polling location in the suburban Atlanta area of Gwinnett County was closed for about an hour Tuesday afternoon due to a non-credible bomb threat, CNN reported. The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has filed with a judge to extend polling hours at the swing state voting location to make up for the lost time.
Man Arrested Over Attack ThreatA 25-year-old man was arrested and federally charged in Michigan on Tuesday after threatening to attack conservatives with a “stolen” automatic weapon if Trump wins the 2024 election, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Arizona Voters Turned AwayA county in the swing state of Arizona that houses the Navajo Nation and the Fort Apache Indian Reservation is experiencing hours-long wait times at the polls and some voters were turned away Tuesday due to issues with faulty voting machines, CNN reported.
Rep. Shares Misleading Election MapRep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., on Tuesday shared a graphic showing Trump as the projected electoral college winner that misinformation tracking company Alethea told The Washington Post is meant to “preemptively cast doubt on election results in the event that former President Trump loses.”
Man Arrested Outside U.S. CapitolA man who was stopped during the security screening process at the Capitol Visitor Center “smelled like fuel” and was in possession of a torch, flare gun and two containers that smelled like gasoline, U.S. Capitol Police said Tuesday. The visitor center will remain closed for the rest of the day as an investigation is conducted.
Musk To Join Trump At Mar-A-LagoBillionaire Trump supporter Elon Musk will spend at least part of election night with the candidate at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., part of a small group of people who will watch the results roll in live with the former president, The New York Times reported.
Cambia, PA Polls Open Until 10 p.m.Polls in the rural county of Cambria in Pennsylvania—which could be an important district in the swing state for Trump—will remain open until 10 p.m. Tuesday to make up for hours lost when a morning software malfunction hampered voting. Trump won 68.1% of the Cambria county vote in 2020.
Russia Linked To Bomb ThreatsBomb threats that temporarily closed two polling places in a majority Black district in the swing state of Georgia were “of Russian origin,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said, adding, “They’re up to mischief, it seems, and they don’t want us to have a smooth, fair and accurate election.”
Trump Votes In FloridaTrump cast his vote in Palm Beach, Fla. late Tuesday morning alongside his wife, Melania. He said it is an “absolute outrage” that votes may not be counted until several days after the election, but said he felt “very confident” in his chances of winning.
Russia Paid Pro-Trump InfluencerA pro-Trump social media influencer (who uses the @AlphaFox78 handle on X) said he was paid multiple times by a Russian propagandist to post a fake video about the election that spread lies about voter fraud.
Betting Markets Favor Trump, But…Poll-based prediction sites FiveThirtyEight and Silver Bulletin give the (tiny) advantage to Harris. Here’s the breakdown.
Harris, Trump Split Dixville NotchHarris and former President Donald Trump each secured three votes in the small New Hampshire town of Dixville Notch, which concluded its long-running tradition of being the first in the country to declare its results—although the town’s results have historically been far from predictive of any national result.
Trump, Vance End On Dark NoteFormer President Donald Trump hurled insults at former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at his campaign’s closing rally in Michigan that stretched into early Tuesday, while his running mate Sen. JD Vance described Vice President Kamala Harris as “trash” at an earlier rally on Monday evening.
Key Background
Tuesday marks the culmination of one of the most chaotic election cycles in history: A former president, convicted of felonies and facing dozens of other criminal charges, challenges a vice president who was elevated to the top of the ticket after the primaries when President Joe Biden, 81, bowed out of the race following a pressure campaign from within his own party. Harris would be the first woman elected president, and Trump would be the oldest. Polls show the race is deadlocked nationally and in the seven swing states set to decide the election, after Trump led President Joe Biden in surveys before his exit and Harris carved out an early lead after her entrance into the contest.
What To Watch For
Republicans are poised to retake the Senate, though the House is more of a toss-up. In the Senate, where Democrats have a razor-thin 51-49 seat majority, 23 Democrat-held seats are up for re-election, compared to just 11 held by Republicans, none of which are rated toss-ups by Cook Political Report. In the House, where Republicans hold a 221-214 majority, Republicans have a 51% chance of maintaining control, according to Five Thirty Eight, while Democrats would win control 49 times out of 100.
When Do Polls Close?
The first polls close in eastern Kentucky and most of Indiana at 6 p.m. But the real indicators of who might win won’t come until later in the night, when the seven swing states begin releasing counts, with Georgia and North Carolina likely the first to report results.
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