Trump and Harris await results after polls close – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris notched early victories in reliably Republican and Democratic states, respectively, as a divided America made stark decisions Tuesday about the country’s future.

Polls closed in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Nevada, seven tight battlegrounds that were expected to decide the election but where results were too early to be announced. Voting in the West continued on Election Day as tens of millions of Americans added their ballots to the 84 million previously cast, choosing between two candidates with vastly different temperaments and visions for the country.

Trump won Florida, a former battleground that had largely gone to Republicans in recent elections. He also secured early wins in reliably Republican states like Texas, South Carolina and Indiana, while Harris took Democratic strongholds like New York, Massachusetts and Illinois.

The fate of democracy appeared to be a major driver for Harris’ supporters, according to AP VoteCast, a sign that the Democratic nominee’s insistence in the final days of her campaign accusing Trump of being a fascist may have broken through . The extensive survey of more than 110,000 voters across the country also found that the country is mired in negativity and is in desperate need of change. Trump’s supporters have been largely focused on immigration and inflation, two issues the former Republican president has raised since the start of his campaign.

Those who voted on Election Day largely experienced a smooth process, with isolated reports of recurring glitches, including long lines, technical problems and errors in printing ballots.

Harris has vowed to work across multiple fronts to address economic and other challenges without deviating radically from the course President Joe Biden has set. Trump has promised to replace thousands of federal workers with loyalists, impose massive tariffs on allies and enemies alike, and carry out the largest deportation operation in US history.

Harris and Trump entered Election Day focusing on seven swing states, five of which were carried by Trump in 2016 before they flipped to Biden in 2020: the “blue wall” of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as Arizona and Georgia. Nevada and North Carolina, which were won by Democrats and Republicans respectively in the last two elections, also generated intense competition.

Trump voted in Palm Beach, Florida, outside his Mar-a-Lago club. On Tuesday night, he called a Wisconsin radio station and said, “I’m watching these results. So far, so good.”

Harris, the Democratic vice president, gave telephone interviews to radio stations in battleground states and then visited the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington with a box of Doritos, her favorite snack.

“This truly represents the best of who we are,” Harris said to cheering employees. Phone banking supporters handed her a cellphone, and when reporters asked how she was feeling, the vice president picked up the phone and replied, “Gotta talk to voters.”

The closeness of the race and the number of states involved raised the possibility that the winner could once again be unknown on Election Night.

Trump said Tuesday that he has no plans to urge his supporters to refrain from violence if Harris wins because they “are not violent people.” His angry supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, after Trump attempted to overturn his 2020 defeat. Asked on Tuesday about accepting the results of the 2024 race, he said: “If this is a fair election, I will be the first to admit it.” He visited a nearby campaign office to thank staffers before a party at a nearby convention center.

After leaving the DNC, Harris planned to attend a party at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington.

Federal, state and local officials expressed confidence in the integrity of the country’s election system. Still, they were prepared to combat what they said was unprecedented levels of foreign disinformation – especially from Russia and Iran – as well as the possibility of physical violence or cyber attacks.

Both sides have armies of lawyers awaiting litigation on Election Day and beyond. And law enforcement agencies across the country are on high alert for potential violence.

Harris, 60, will become the first woman, Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve as president. She will also become the first sitting vice president to serve in the White House in 36 years.

Trump, 78, will become the oldest president ever elected. He would also become the first defeated president in 132 years to win another term in the White House and the first person convicted of a felony to lead the Oval Office.

He survived one assassination attempt at a July rally by millimeters. Secret Service agents foiled a second attempt in September.

Harris, pointing to warnings from Trump’s former aides, called him a “fascist” and accused Trump of putting women’s lives at risk by nominating the three justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. In the final hours of the campaign, she tried to strike a more positive tone and did not mention the name of her Republican opponent throughout Monday.

Voters across the country were also deciding thousands of other races that will decide everything from control of Congress to state ballot measures on abortion access in response to the Supreme Court’s 2022 vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.

In Florida, a bill that would have protected abortion rights in the state constitution failed after failing to pass the 60% threshold for passage, marking the first time a measure protecting abortion rights has failed since Roe cancelled. Earlier Tuesday, Trump refused to say how he voted for the measure and snapped at a reporter, saying, “You should stop talking about this.”

In reliably Democratic New York, Colorado and Maryland, voters approved measures aimed at protecting abortion rights in their state constitutions.

J.D. Jorgensen, an independent voter from Black Mountain, North Carolina, which was hit hard by Hurricane Helen, said voters had until Tuesday to make a decision.

“I think the candidates, both in the public eye for as long as they’ve both been, if you were on guard, you weren’t really paying attention,” Jorgensen, 35, said.