Donald Trump has sensationally won the White House – taking Pennsylvania to secure 274 electoral college votes in a humiliating defeat for Hillary Clinton and the entire American political class. The state fell at 1.40am, with its 20 votes putting Trump over the edge. Clinton was in hiding as the result came through.
He won Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina and Florida, as well as a series of states he was predicted to win. Clinton had little to show for her campaigning, with Virginia and Nevada offering little consolation.
As her party fell flat and supporters streamed away in tears, she was locked in a hotel suite just round the corner from Trump Tower, protected behind a wall of minders and with aides who refused to speak to the press.
At Trump Tower, the candidate retired to his apartment to ‘take a moment’ with this wife. At his planned victory celebration, supporters chanted ‘lock her up’ as states after state fell.
The big breakthrough was the fall of Florida. As a Florida victory looked imminent, young Trump fans chanted at giant TVs: ‘Call it! Call it! Call it!’
Then it fell – Clinton had poured millions into the state, but it was not enough.
Next came Ohio, with 18 electoral college votes.
As vote-counters put the Buckeye state in Trump’s win column, and took it away from Democrat Hillary Clinton – President Obama won it twice – the New York Times’ live presidential forecast gave the billionaire builder an 95 per cent chance of winning the White House.
That grew to ‘>95%’, its highest possible number.
Then came North Carolina with 15 votes going to Trump. When its result was set in stone, the Manhattan ballroom where Trump supporters gathered Tuesday night erupted in screams of ‘USA! USA!’
As the clock ticked towards midnight, Georgia fell, with another 16 votes. Aides to Clinton, who hoped to become America’s first female president, told Fox News that she was ‘expecting a long night’.
His Florida margin was less than 2 per cent. In North Carolina it was 4. Ohio became a surprising cakewalk, ending in an 11-point runaway.
Earlier, before the good news began to trickle in, a senior Trump campaign official admitted to CNN as the results poured in: ‘It will take a miracle for us to win.’
When the network called the Illinois race in Clinton’s favor, the crowd let out loud boos. One woman yelled. ‘Lock her up!’
Other important states whose winners couldn’t be projected immediately included Arizona, Michigan and Minnesota.
Millions of Americans cast votes Tuesday for the two polarizing candidates who have split much of America into warring camps.
Clinton, a former secretary of state, earned victories in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Virginia looked like a squeaker early: With 81 per cent counted, Clinton led Trump by less than 2,000 votes out of 3 million cast.
But many of the late-reporting precincts in the Old Dominion were in four counties where Democrats typically win sizable majorities.
Trump, the real estate tycoon, claimed wins in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Early projections making the rounds online and republished by the Drudge Report news website suggested that 140 million voters are participating, a new record, far exceeding the 131.4 million total in 2008.
First-time voters, in particular, are fueling the massive increase. That group is swinging toward Clinton by a 55-37 margin, according to Fox News Channel exit polls. Trump’s campaign built its momentum in part on the promise of bringing a ‘silent majority’ out of the woodwork.
Fully 22 per cent of Hispanic voters told pollsters that it was their first time at the polls, suggesting Trump’s tortured relationship with Latinos has come back to bite him.
American presidential elections typically turn on vote totals in just 12 of the 50 states.
Trump had boasted that he can flip Michigan and Minnesota, two traditionally left-leaning enclaves, into the Republican column on the strength of an appeal to working-class voters whose jobs have disappeared since President Barack Obama took office.
America’s Electoral College system provides one vote for each member of Congress, including both the Senate and the House of Representatives, plus three to represent the District of Columbia – 538 in all.
A candidate needs to claim 270 votes, the smallest possible majority, in order to win the White House.
As of 11.30pm EST, Trump’s total stood at 264, compared with Clinton’s 215.
Trump, a billionaire first-time candidate whose political debut was initially seen as an ego-stroking circus act, bested 16 other Republicans for the right to face Clinton, who has lived and breathed campaigns and elections for more than 40 years and had only one serious intra-party rival.
As the Clinton family waited for the results at a suite in The Peninsula hotel in Manhattan they ‘noshed a little bit’ from a buffet spread in the hallway that included salmon, roasted carrots, vegan pizza and fries.
Aides worked with Hillary on a speech, while her husband was not planning to speak. Also present were her daughter Chelsea, son-in-law Marc Mezvinsky and grandchildren Charlotte and Aiden.
And Huma Abedin, her right-hand woman who was out of the campaign inner circle briefly because of her pervert ex-husband Anthony Weiner sparking fresh FBI investigation into the Clinton email scandal was also present.
At the Clinton watch party, an upbeat atmosphere soured rapidly as the scale of the Trump advance in Florida became apparent.
‘I think a lot of people though Florida would come in early,’ Clinton supporter Sen Claire McCaskill of Missouri told DailyMail.com. ‘So the fact that we thought Florida would be done early and then we’d be done and it’d be fine, now we have to wait a little longer because Florida may be really, really close.’
After Trump’s victory in Indiana was announced, his vice presidential running mate Mike Pence tweeted: ‘Thank you Indiana for making our state first on the board to vote to Make America Great Again! @realDonaldTrump.’
Trump, a billionaire first-time candidate whose political debut was initially seen as an ego-stroking circus act, bested 16 other Republicans for the right to face Hillary Clinton, who has lived and breathed campaigns and elections for more than 40 years and had only one serious intra-party rival.
On Tuesday morning polling places across the country were already reporting that voters were waiting over an hour to cast ballots.
Clinton was one of the first in line on Tuesday morning as she and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, voted in their hometown of Chappaqua, New York.
Trump cast his vote at 11am on Tuesday, voting at a New York City public school with wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner. His granddaughter Arabella also tagged along.
Asked afterward if he would concede the race to Clinton if he lost, Trump said: ‘We’ll see what happens.’
Last-minute surveys showed the real estate tycoon leading the former secretary of state by narrow margins heading into the final hours of the campaign.
The USC/LA Times Daybreak tracking poll showed Trump ahead by three percentage points, 46.8 per cent to 43.6 per cent, down from a six-point lead he enjoyed in the summer.
In a four-way race that included the two leading minor candidates, an IBD/TIPP tracking poll showed Trump ahead by two points, 45 per cent to 43 per cent. Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson held 7 per cent. Green Party nominee Jill Stein brought up the rear with 2 per cent.
When Stein and Johnson are removed from the equation, Clinton emerged one point ahead.
‘It is the most humbling feeling,’ Clinton said after casting her ballot. ‘I know how much responsibility goes with this.’
Many at Clinton’s polling place cheered for her as they exchanged hugs and handshakes
Trump got a far frostier reception outside his polling location, where he was greeted by a chorus of ‘boos’ in liberal New York City as he arrived to vote with his family.
Once inside, though, he bought a cookie from a young boy operating a bake sale, handing him a $20 bill and telling him he could keep the change.
Also voting early in the day on Tuesday was Clinton’s running mate Virginia Sen Tim Kaine, who brought his mother Mary with him to vote in Virginia.
Eric Trump shared a photo of his filled-out ballot on social media, which is technically illegal in the state of New York.
Shortly after Trump went to the polls, his vice presidential choice, Indiana Gov Mike Pence, voted with his wife in Indiana.
The day’s earliest exit polls offered hints about voters’ moods but steered clear of reporting which candidate most of them were choosing.
The polling firm Morning Consult found that Americans were most likely to say their chief aim in choosing a president was finding a ‘strong leader’ – which suggests Donald Trump could have an edge.
Nearly seven in ten Americans said they were dissatisfied or angry about the way the federal government is run.
But 54 per cent also said they approve of Obama’s job performance, which could give the Democratic nominee a boost even in what has been described as a ‘change election.’
Clinton easily won the ‘ground game’: Thirteen per cent said they had been contacted by the Democratic nominee’s campaign, compared with just 8 per cent who heard from Team Trump.
There were also signs of election fatigue, with 85 per cent telling pollsters they ‘just want it to be over’
Another 72 per cent described their mood as ‘anxious’; 71 per cent said they were ‘nervous’ about the election’s result.
Only about four in ten are excited about having either Clinton or Trump as president, reflecting the chronic unpopularity of both nominees.
Exit polling from ABC News found 54 per cent of voters had a negative impression of Clinton, with 61 per cent saying the same about Trump.
That means whoever wins will be the first U.S. president sent to Washington with a net-negative approval rating.
Voters believe neither major party candidate is ‘honest and trustworthy,’ with 65 per cent saying Trump doesn’t qualify, compared with 59 per cent for Clinton.
Additionally, 56 percent of voters said Clinton had the right temperament to be president, while just 34 percent paid the same compliment to Trump.
The Clinton campaign flooded reporters’ in-boxes with press releases saying voting was ‘speedy’, ‘smooth’ and ’empowering’, the day was not without its technical challenges – some of which Republicans including Trump cast as potential incidences of voting fraud.
Long lines were common in Pennsylvania, a pivotal swing state that doesn’t have an early voting system.
Republicans complained that their poll watchers weren’t being allowed into precincts in some parts of Philadelphia.
And a voter there recorded video of his electronic voting machine not allowing him to cast a vote for Trump. A poll worker, that voter testified, quickly remedied the problem.
In Utah, voting machine problems forced voters to fill out paper ballots in Washington County, in the southwest corner of the state.
Trump tweeted about the problem, mistakenly complaining about problems across entire ‘country’ instead of across the ‘county’.
Team Trump also filed a lawsuit in Nevada alleging that Democratic precinct officials in Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, held early voting locations open later than they were allowed to on Friday night, to accommodate predominantly Clinton-leaning Hispanic voters.
Officials said they allowed voters who wre in line by the 8pm cut-off time to participate, in accordance with state law.
A Nevada judge denied the Trump campaign’s demand that the latest-cast ballots should be separated out in case there was a legal challenge after the results come in. The court ruled those records were already preserved, and also didn’t allow the campaign access to records showing which poll workers were on duty.
‘Have you watched Twitter? Do you watch any cable news shows? People can get information and harass them,’ argued Judge Gloria Sturman.
Trump affirmed his support for the lawsuit Tuesday on the Fox News Channel.
‘I have great representatives in Nevada, and a lot of other places, and they felt it was a pretty bad situation out there,’ the GOP nominee said.
‘We have to keep the system honest,’ he added.
NBC in New York City reported that some voters had problems with scanners and voting machines that were not working, and with polling places that opened hours later than scheduled.
In North Carolina, the Durham County Board of Elections authorities extended voting times by 20 to 60 minutes, varying by precinct, after a glitch in electronic voter check-in systems led to long delays and created long lines.
Fully 37 per cent of registered voters in that county are African Americans, a key voting bloc for Clinton in a swing state she needs to win.
Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement that ‘the Durham County Board of Elections – made up of two Republicans and one Democrat – has agreed that voting hours must be extended due to technical problems that occurred earlier today.’
‘We are urging the North Carolina Board of Elections to heed this bipartisan call and approve this urgent measure so that every voter can have their voice heard.’
In Hoboken, New Jersey, the city’s mayor reported that she was asked for an ID before receiving a ballot – which violates state law.
‘I just got asked for ID to vote in my polling location at Boys & Girls Club. This is not ok Hudson County Board of Elections!’ Dawn Zimmer tweeted.
Trump has built a devoted following of tens of millions, including large numbers of Americans who have never voted before.
Along the way he angered some in the Republican Party establishment who saw him as a reckless insult-generator destined to alienate large swaths of the American electorate.
Clinton and her 800-strong campaign team stitched together an agenda that was unremarkable for a typical Democrat, save for a leftward tilt brought about during an unexpectedly strong primary challenge from Senator Bernie Sanders.
She pledged to raise the minimum wage, provide paid medical leave, build infrastructure, and try to reform the nation’s immigration system.
But with Republicans likely to keep control of Congress, one of her chief requisite challenges will be to play defense and protect Obama’s legacy from continued GOP attacks – while protecting her own administration from investigations that Republicans have already telegraphed.
Clinton pulled off an organized, scripted, and visually stunning convention that whipped up the party faithful, tended to interest groups – and crystallized concerns about Trump’s anti-immigrant appeals and a proposed Muslim immigration ban with a passionate speech by a Gold Star father whose son died in Iraq.
Trump, who crushed Republican opponents through improvised and slashing attacks, immediately engaged, staging a Twitter and TV war with Khizr Khan in an unorthodox move that caused a media frenzy but failed to appeal to centrist voters he needed.
The presidential candidate also gave his enemies ammunition by repeating more than 500 times a pledge that as president he would wall off America from Mexico, stemming the flow of narcotics and human chattel while defending the border from an unchecked flood of immigrants with no legal right to be in the United States.
More damaging still was a series of episodes that angered feminists and other powerful women in a year when Trump was running against America’s would-be first female president.
His candidacy brought women out of the woodwork to accuse him of sexual misconduct of varying severity, including one woman who sued him for an alleged teen rape – and then withdrew the case when her story fell apart.
Trump denied every charge, calling his accusers rank opportunists who sought 15 minutes of fame. Some, he said, were Democratic plants, and others were cashing in.
He had a harder time explaining a hot-mic audio recording from a 2005 taping of Access Hollywood, in which he was recorded lewdly describing the ease with which famous men could sexually assault women in their orbits.
Through it all, Trump’s campaign crowds grew, with his reality-show star power outdrawing every other candidate in both parties.
Trump’s massive media exposure created both fans and detractors, hardening positions on both ends of the political spectrum – and inside the GOP, where ‘Never Trump’ Republicans pledged not to support him even at the cost of delivering the White House to a second Clinton.
Ultimately Trump won over most of his party’s establishment as he lent his charisma to fundraising events that benefited conservative candidates in other races.
But more importantly, an army of torch-bearing, pitchfork-wielding ‘Trumpkins’, as his political enemies styled them, embraced his rough edges as signs of solidarity.
Clinton’s own weaknesses were just as hard to paper over.
For nearly the entire length of her campaign she had to contend with nonstop barrages of stories and charges about her conduct in the State Department, her family’s foundation, and charges of ‘pay to play’ corruption.
The focus begin in part with the release of Clinton Cash, a book that drew connections among the interlocking webs of Clinton donors, confidants, foreign governments and longtime friends.
In March 2015, a bombshell rocked the campaign when it was revealed Clinton had maintained a private email server at her New York home. Then began the drip-drip-drip of thousands of State Department emails, which not only showed Clinton dealt with secret and sensitive matters on her, but brought forth an array of damaging stories.
The drumbeat grew so intense that even Sanders pronounced Americans ‘sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails’ in a primary debate.
After a lengthy investigation, FBI Director James Comey announced he would not recommend charges, but still called Clinton out for her ‘extremely careless’ behavior.
Wikileaks dumped the other trove of documents that defined the campaign, hacked emails from Clinton campaign chair John Podesta. They exposed myriad internecine battles, cozy contacts with the press, and efforts to kneecap Sanders’ primary run.
They were also embarrassing and could continue to rattle careers inside Clinton’s inner circle. But the leaks, which US officials link to a Russian government hack, didn’t appear to bring a major turn in the race.
Americans will learn Tuesday night whether history will remember Trump’s unusual approach as a groundbreaking innovation or as a one-off flop.
He said on Monday that he’s not interested in becoming a chapter in a political science textbook.
‘If we don’t win,’ Trump said during his penultimate rally in new Hampshire, ‘it will be the biggest waste of energy, time and money in my whole life.’
The first result came in after midnight Tuesday, with the tiny community of Dixville Notch in New Hampshire casting their ballots as Monday became Tuesday. They backed Hillary Clinton by a vote of 4 to 2. Mitt Romney, the unsuccessful Republican nominee four years ago, won a surprising write-in vote.
Daily Mail
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