Trump wins North Carolina. Other battlefields are still too close to call

In the extraordinarily close race for the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris won California and its 54 electoral votes, a major boost even if the race remained too close to decide.

More than 30 states are in the presidential race, an election that will make history by sending either the first woman or the first convicted felon to the White House.

In the states the Associated Press called as of 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, former President Trump won 230 electoral votes while Harris secured 205 electoral votes.

Trump defeated Harris in North Carolina, the first of seven crucial battleground states to be called.

Trump won the 16 coveted electoral votes in the Southern swing state after election officials there made sure voters voted can cast their vote in counties devastated by Hurricane Helene in September.

Other embattled states remained too close to call. Each candidate's biggest victories included Florida, where Trump won 30 electoral votes, and New York, where Harris won 28 electoral votes. On the West Coast, Harris won over Washington with 12 electoral votes and Oregon with eight electoral votes.

The presidential race will likely be decided by the seven closely watched swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Polls in California closed at 8 p.m

The election will determine which party controls both houses of Congress – which in turn will have a major impact on the ability of the newly elected president to carry out his intentions. California is home to at least a half-dozen closely contested House races, making the state a consistent down-ballot battleground this year.

It is possible that the winner of the presidential election will not be known on election night. In 2020, the race was called four days later and was then the subject of numerous lawsuits and a barrage of lies from Trump and his allies who falsely claimed the election was stolen.

On Tuesday evening, Harris' campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon sent an email to campaign staff that struck an optimistic tone, writing that turnout was good in battleground states and that it was already expected to be “a razor-thin race ” become. ”

“As we continue to see data trickle in from the Sun Belt states, we have always known that our clearest path to 270 electoral votes is through the Blue Wall states. And we feel good about what we see,” she wrote in the email, obtained by The Times.

She added: “Those of you who were there in 2020 know this well: It takes time for all the votes to be counted – and all the votes will be counted.”… What we do know is that this race won't be over until will come into focus in the early hours of the morning.”

This year, more than 85 million people nationwide voted early, with many standing in line for hours to cast their ballot in a presidential race that polls show is a dead heat.

To become president, a candidate must win 270 electoral votes. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors – one for each representative and senator in Congress and three for the District of Columbia.

According to the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election watchdog, Harris is expected to enter Election Day with 226 votes from Democratic-leaning states. Trump is expected to win 219 of the red states.

There are 93 electoral votes from seven swing states up for grabs.

Before polls began closing Tuesday, Trump posted on Truth Social baseless claims about voter fraud in Philadelphia and Detroit, cities located in battleground states.

“There is a lot of talk about massive FRAUD in Philadelphia. Law enforcement is coming!!!” Trump posted on Tuesday evening.

He also wrote: “Philadelphia and Detroit! There are strong law enforcement!!!”

Philadelphia Dist. Atty. Larry Krasner called Trump's claims “baseless” and said in a statement, “The only talk of massive fraud came from one of the candidates, Donald J. Trump.” There is no factual basis within law enforcement to support this wild claim. “

Krasner said: “If Donald J. Trump has any facts to support his wild claims, we want them now.” Right now. We’re not holding our breath.”

Detroit police shared on the social media platform

The stakes of this election could hardly be higher.

Harris has portrayed Trump as a dangerous, vindictive tyrant who would use the military against American citizens who disagree with him, who would only help the rich and his “billionaire donors,” and who would threaten the lives of women by further denying their right to abortion undermines other medical care.

“America, this is not a presidential candidate thinking about how to improve his life,” Harris said of Trump in a speech near the National Mall in Washington last week. “This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, filled with resentment and seeking uncontrolled power.”

Trump has also sought to paint his opponent as an extremist – calling her “a Marxist” and “a fascist” – and blamed her for inflation and high food prices over the past four years. He accused her of allowing an “invasion” of violent criminal migrants into the country and falsely claimed that if elected she would support open borders.

“Kamala Harris is a train wreck who has destroyed everything in her path,” Trump said in a speech at Madison Square Garden in New York last week. “Making her president would risk the lives of millions and millions of people. It would take us into World War III.”

Election Day marks the end of a stunning campaign that began for Harris in July, when President Biden, 81, dropped out of the race after a disastrous debate performance in which he struggled to complete sentences and failed to push back on Trump's falsehoods.

Harris, riding a wave of enthusiasm from Democrats increasingly concerned about Biden's age and mental capacity, initially surged in the polls. She and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, framed their campaign as one that would bring joy back to America's bitter politics.

California-born Harris — the country's first female, first Black and first Asian American vice president — has already done so secured her place in history for the first time many times throughout her career.

A former prosecutor, she was the first female district attorney of San Francisco, the first female attorney general of California and the second Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

After her exuberant entry into the presidential election, Harris' campaign of joy gave way to warning. The vice president said that Trump posed a threat to American democracy and that he would have few guardrails after the US Supreme Court's decision in the summer that he would no longer support Trump and that he was entitled to broad impunity for official acts.

Harris frequently campaigned with Republicans dissatisfied with Trump, including former Rep. Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Trump repeatedly attempted to delegitimize Harris' candidacy by falsely portraying Biden's voluntary decision to drop out of the race as ” an illegal “coup” carried out by Democrats.

Trump survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 election campaign.

During a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a gunman on a rooftop hit Trump in the right ear, killing one attendee. Flanked by Secret Service agents, the bloodied former president clenched his fist three times and said “fight” before being taken away.

At the Republican National Convention a few days later, Trump was celebrated as a martyr, and attendees wore bandages over their ears in solidarity with him. Biden was still in the race, the GOP seemed united behind their candidate, and Trump's victory seemed all but inevitable to many.

But just three days after Trump accepted his party's nomination, the race was upended again when Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris.

A second assassination attempt occurred in September while Trump was golfing at his club in Florida. A Secret Service agent fired a gun at a man hiding in the foliage on the golf course. Trump was not injured.

Trump's return to the Republican leadership marks an extraordinary political comeback after he lost to Biden in 2020. tried to tip over the election results and left Washington in disgrace after his most ardent supporters stormed the US Capitol in his name deadly riot on January 6, 2021.

This year, the twice-impeached former president was convicted of falsifying business records to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, the porn actress who said she had sex with the married Trump.

Last month, Trump's longest-serving White House chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly, warned that his former boss met the “definition of fascist” in that he lacked empathy and had made admiring statements about Adolf Hitler. Soon after, Harris began openly calling Trump a fascist.

Trump, who called his opponent “Comrade Kamala,” called Harris “mentally disabled” and a “low IQ person.” He has questioned the black identity of Harris, the biracial daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, and falsely accused her of changing her racial and ethnic identity over time.