Republican candidate and former US President Donald Trump has won state of Pennsylvania that gives him 19 electoral votes, together with wins in two of the other battleground states- Georgia (16 votes) and North Carolina (16 votes) according to projection by Decision Desk HQ.
Trump who lost the state in the 2020 elections to President Biden is projected to return to the White House after four years with Fox News projecting Trump winning 277 electoral votes while Kamala Harris has 226 votes.
A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes out of 538 to win the presidency. As per CBS news projections the Republicans are also poised to take control of the Senate, with wins in Ohio and West Virginia. Results of House results are yet too close to call.
Trump is expected to address supporters West Palm Beach Convention Center after US media polls predicted a return to the White House for him after a tightly contested election against Vice President Kamala Harris.
With this Trump who is 78 years old is set to become the oldest president to be elected to the White House. President Joe Biden was previously the oldest president to be elected at 77. It marks a comeback for Trump who is facing multiple federal convictions and scandals.
Meanwhile, polls closed at 1 a.m. Eastern in Alaska, the last state where they remained open.
Harris, who entered the poll fray in July this year was clutching on to a narrow hope even after US news outlets projected victory for her Republican rival in North Carolina and Georgia after elections closed on Tuesday night. Her campaign said she was not out of the race yet.
She has projected wins in Democratic strongholds like California. Trump managed to flip Georgia back to the Republican side, held North Carolina and shattered the so called “blue wall” of the Democrats.
The Republican candidate has won Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Wyoming, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, West Virginia, Montana, Idaho and Utah.
As per an analysis in The Hill news daily, Trump is only the second president in U.S. history to win two nonconsecutive terms as president, with a loss sandwiched between the victories.
The first to do so was Grover Cleveland, who served as the 22nd and 24th president, from 1885-1889 and 1893-1897. He was unsuccessful in his first attempt at re-election in 1888, losing to Republican Benjamin Harrison, before coming back to beat Harrison four years later, as per the US news outlet.
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