2024 election LIVE updates: Trump wins the White House in political comeback

Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts.With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. 

Republicans have taken control of the U.S. Senate, retaking the upper chamber for the first time in four years. 

Fox News called the presidential election for Trump at 1:46 a.m. Eastern after several key swing states were called for Trump; North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania have all been called by Fox News. AP has called North Carolina and Georgia for the former president, but has not made a race call yet for Pennsylvania.

With Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes, Trump is three electoral votes away from the needed 270 to win the presidential election.

FOX News is projecting that Donald Trump will win Pennsylvania, effectively edging out Kamala Harris' last hope of victory and guaranteeing his win.

Right now, FOX News puts Trump up with 267 electoral votes while Harris has 226.

AP has not made the official call on Pennsylvania yet, but if Trump indeed takes the state, Harris is unlikely to reach 270 electoral votes. 

The vice president would have to win all the final uncalled races in Nevada (6 votes), Arizona (11 votes), Wisconsin (10 votes), Michigan (15 votes) and Alaska (3 votes) — all of which are skewing toward Trump, according to AP's latest data — to get over the edge and take the White House.

The path to the White House is growing slim for Vice President Kamala Harris. While there are five key swing states that haven't been called yet, there's one she can't lose: Pennsylvania. 

She can't reach 270 electoral votes without the Keystone State. However, she can lose pieces of the blue wall — so named for its longtime reputation as a Democratic firewall — and still reach 270.

If she loses Michigan, she can make it up by winning Arizona and Nevada. She can lose Wisconsin and make up for it with Arizona. But the map has surely shrunk for Harris, who cannot lose more than one in the three-state northern arc, AP says.

Vice President Kamala Harris won New Hampshire on Wednesday, continuing the state’s two-decade-long streak of awarding its four electoral votes to Democrats. 

New Hampshire has backed Democrats in seven of the last eight presidential elections. Harris’ win comes nine months after the Democratic National Committee bypassed New Hampshire as the leadoff presidential primary.

It’s the third time that Republican Donald Trump has won New Hampshire’s GOP primary but lost the state in the general election.

Fox News is projecting that Donald Trump will win Georgia — a key battleground state that is likely to determine the outcome of the election. 

The state has 16 electoral votes, which would put Trump at 246 electoral votes. He would only need to take two more battleground states to put him over the 270 threshold. 

FOX shows Trump with 50.86% of the vote while Harris holds 40.40%. They estimate that there are just over 300,000 ballots left to be counted.  

AP later confirmed the call as well, at 12:58 a.m. 

Joe Biden narrowly carried Georgia in 2020, but Republicans have won every other Georgia presidential vote since 1996. It's the first state to flip from the 2020 results.

Trump tried to overturn his 2020 loss in Georgia, setting off a political and legal struggle that led to his indictment in the state. While the state has two Democratic U.S. senators, Trump’s victory proves Georgia still has a Republican bent.

Elon Musk appeared gleeful about the prospect of gaining influence over the federal government during a potential Donald Trump presidency.

He posted a photoshopped image of himself carrying a sink into the Oval Office, adding, "Let that sink in." It’s a reference to when he took over Twitter, now X, and began shaking up operations at the social media company.

Trump has said Musk, the world’s richest man, would help him streamline government.

There are still six key races in the 2024 presidential election that have not been called by the Associated Press yet. 

They're all in the critical battleground states that were already predicted to be the determining factors in the 2024 election. 

Here's where the projections in each race stand as of 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to AP. 

Arizona: Trump +<1

Georgia: Trump +2

Michigan: Trump +6

Pennsylvania: Trump +3

Wisconsin: Trump +4

Nevada: No reporting data

Democrat Sarah Elfreth won the U.S. House seat for Maryland's 3rd Congressional District, AP calls. 

Elfreth snagged the Democratic party win over former U.S. Capitol police officer Harry Dunn during the primary. During the campaign, Elfreth highlighted her work as a state legislator, where she managed to get bills passed and helped her constituents.

She is the youngest woman to be elected to the Maryland Senate. Elfreth represents District 30 in the Maryland Senate and was first elected in 2018 to represent Annapolis and southern Anne Arundel County.

Vice President Kamala Harris won Hawaii and the state’s four electoral votes on Wednesday. It’s the 10th straight presidential election in which Hawaii has selected the Democratic Party candidate. 

The state last picked a Republican for the nation’s top office 40 years ago, when Ronald Reagan emerged victorious in 1984. Hawaii is a solidly blue state, with Democrats controlling all statewide elected offices and the state’s two U.S. House seats. 

Democrats have also long controlled more than three-quarters of the seats in both the state House and Senate. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 12:00 a.m. EST.

Republicans will be back in charge of the Senate for the first time in 4 years. 

With at least 51 Senate seats secured, Republicans will retake control of the chamber for the first time in four years. It gives the party a major power center in Washington and important power in confirming the next president’s Cabinet, as well as any Supreme Court justice if there is a vacancy.

With a handful of battleground races yet to be decided, Republicans still have an opportunity to grow their majority.

GOP senators have already been looking at ways to extend tax cuts that were passed during Donald Trump’s first term, as well as sending funding towards toughened border security measures.

However, the extent of Republicans’ power in Washington will also be determined by the results of the presidential and House races.

Vice President Kamala Harris has won Virginia, AP says. Harris’ victory marks the third time Donald Trump has lost the Old Dominion state. 

The Democratic nominee for president has won Virginia in every election since 2008 but the Commonwealth is considered a purple state, frequently alternating between Democratic and Republican control. 

Trump has had strong support from Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has praised the president for his policies on abortion, parental rights in schools and limiting gender-affirming care and transgender rights for minors. 

Early polling showed Harris with a hefty lead over Trump but the race quickly tightened in the days leading up to the election. 

Harris now holds 205 electoral college votes. Trump has 230.  

Kamala Harris won New Mexico, adding five electoral votes to Democrats’ tally. 

The Democratic Party’s influence in New Mexico has only grown over the last two decades, with former President George W. Bush being the last Republican to win the state in 2004. 

Harris never made any campaign stops in the state, but support in New Mexico’s more populous areas outweighed voters in conservative pockets.

As predicted, the presidential election is quickly coming down to tight races in the battleground states.

North Carolina was one key swing state that was called for Trump. With 89% of the votes counted, the former president won 50.8% of the vote, with Harris coming in at 48.1%. 

At Trump’s election night watch party, the crowd erupted in cheers, with some supporters pumping fists in the air and others jumping when the screen showed tha

Now, the fight continues for Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, Wisconsin and Arizona. 

Vice President Kamala Harris won Washington’s 12 electoral votes on Tuesday, besting former President Donald Trump in a state where he is not popular. 

She also won the largest prize in the presidential election - 54 electoral votes from California. Both states were expected to turn blue

D.C. Ward 8 councilmember Trayon White has been re-elected to his seat, despite being arrested in a bribery scandal earlier this year. 

White was accused of accepting $156,000 in cash payments in exchange for using his position to influence D.C. agencies to extend violence intervention contracts to an associate who, unbeknownst to White, was an FBI informant.

He was arrested by the FBI and charged with federal crimes back in August. White was quickly booted from his committee chairmanship position by the D.C. Council on their first day back from summer recess in September. 

White's name remained on the ballot for November, however, and he retained his voting rights as a member of the Committee of the Whole.

But following White’s arrest, DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson announced an ad hoc committee would investigate White’s alleged actions for the Council. 

Mendelson noted that White will have an opportunity to respond and that if the council moves toward expulsion, it likely would not happen until early 2025. 

Democrat Suhas Subramanyam is the new House representative for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District after beating out Republican Mike Clancy.

The seat was previously held by Democrat Jennifer Wexton. She announced her retirement after being diagnosed with a debilitating form of Parkinson's called Progressive Supra-nuclear Palsy.

Democrats have held the seat since 2019. The Cook Political Report previously rated the district as D+6, predicting a likely Democratic hold in November. 

Subramanyam was Wexton’s pick. He’s a member of the Virginia State Senate, representing District 32. He will now vacate the seat. 

Former President Donald Trump won Kansas and its six electoral votes. Republican candidates have carried Kansas in every presidential election since 1964, and it was the third election in a row that Trump has won the state.

He also took Iowa's six electoral votes, putting him solidly over Harris with 210 electoral college votes. Formerly considered a swing state, Iowa has proved to be a clear example of Trump’s appeal among Republican voters and his staying power in the GOP. 

Democratic incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine has won a third term in the U.S. Senate, pushing out Republican candidate Hung Cao.

Kaine focused heavily on the economy as the lead issue throughout his campaign.

"I've been standing up for Virginia for 30 years, and I'll continue to do so with energy," he stated in an interview on the Final 5 last month.

Kaine is an advocate for the expansion of infrastructure and manufacturing in Virginia. Kaine also supports tax cuts for low and middle income families, and for veteran and military families.

Vice President Kamala Harris won the District of Columbia on Tuesday, securing the capital’s three electoral votes. 

Harris’ win in D.C. is no surprise – the District is a longtime Democratic stronghold whose government repeatedly feuded with Republican Donald Trump when he was the president. 

Trump has described modern-day Washington as a crime-ridden dystopia, and Republican allies in Congress have threatened to strip D.C. of its limited autonomy.

Donald Trump won Utah and Montana for a total of 10 electoral votes. Voters in both states have historically favored moderate Republicans in statewide elections. Trump has faced some pushback among Utah voters — particularly members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, make up about half of Utah’s 3.4 million residents — for his brash style and comments about immigrants.

In Colorado, the increasingly liberal voter base delivered Harris 10 electoral votes. Colorado was once a purple state, flipping between Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, but it has shifted blue in the past two decades. 

The last Republican presidential candidate to snag Colorado’s electoral votes was George W. Bush in 2004. Since then, it’s backed Democratic presidential candidates, with Joe Biden winning it handily in 2020.

Maryland voters passed a ballot initiative to put reproductive rights into the state constitution.

The Ballot Question 1 stated it would confirm an individual's right to "reproductive freedom" decisions and "pregnancy."

"The proposed amendment confirms an individual’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including but not limited to the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue or end the individual’s pregnancy," read the initiative when voters in Maryland cast their ballots.

Donald Trump won the reliably conservative state of Missouri. Missouri voters overwhelmingly favored Trump over Democrats in the 2016 and 2020 elections, and he was favored to win again this year. 

In the past decade, the GOP has become increasingly dominant in Missouri, and Republicans now hold all statewide political offices. Republicans also hold large majorities in both legislative chambers. 

Democrat Angela Alsobrooks is projected to win Maryland’s 2024 U.S. Senate race, according to the Associated Press, defeating Republican Larry Hogan. The victory marks her as the first Black U.S. senator in Maryland’s history.

She won an expensive primary, with her campaign and other Democratic groups spending or reserving around $30 million in ads since the general election began. She argued that voting for a Senate candidate like Hogan, who will help determine control of the chamber, is different from voting for a governor.

Alsobrooks has a background in public service, having served as Prince George’s County State’s Attorney for eight years before being elected County Executive twice. She will transition to the U.S. Senate from her current role, with two years remaining in her term.

Hogan, a popular two-term former governor, won over enough Democratic voters to win two statewide races in 2014 and 2018. He has been a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump but said that he would caucus with Republicans despite concerns about Trump’s influence on the party.

Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin has been declared the winner in Maryland's District 8 House race. 

Raskin is the incumbent representing the 8th Congressional District. He was sworn into his fourth term at the start of the 118th Congress on January 6, 2023.

In the U.S. House, Raskin led the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, and he served on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

He has been extremely vocal about his concerns about the Trump campaign’s failure to enter into presidential transition agreements with the federal government.

The first results will include early in-person and absentee votes, which could mean an early lift for Democrat Angela Alsobrooks since those votes typically have favored Democrats in the past. 

That margin could shrink if Election Day votes arrive with a greater makeup of Republicans. Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan is trying to become Maryland’s first GOP U.S. senator in over 30 years.

By The Associated Press

Former President Donald Trump won Texas for the third consecutive election, adding 40 electoral votes to his tally. Texas gained two more electoral votes this cycle after the 2020 census. 

The Republican nominee for president has won Texas for nearly 50 years since Democrat Jimmy Carter carried the state in 1976.

The Associated Press called several races just after 9 p.m. Tuesday. Of the six races called, Kamala Harris only won one: New York.

While the state delivered her a key number of electoral votes, Trump got a big boost from his five Midwestern wins. Here's how many electoral college votes each state has. 

That has now put Trump at 137 electoral votes compared to Harris' 99, according to the AP. Candidates must secure 270 votes to win.

VP Kamala Harris upped her electoral college count, winning 36 votes total from New Jersey (14), Delaware (3) and Illinois (19).

Harris' win in New Jersey shows a continued dominance for the Democratic party. There are nearly 1 million more registered Democratic voters than Republicans in the state.

Her victory in solid-blue Delaware — also the home of President Joe Biden — was a foregone conclusion, given the stranglehold Democrats have held on the state’s three electoral votes for decades.

Illinois, the home of former President Barack Obama, has been a reliably blue state, supporting Democratic presidential candidates since 1992.

Former President Donald Trump has won Arkansas’ six electoral votes, taking the state for the third time. 

Trump had the backing of the state’s top Republican figures, including Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Sanders, who had served as Trump’s White House press secretary, endorsed the former president’s bid and campaigned for him.

He has now secured 101 electoral votes with more than 19 million ballots cast for the GOP candidate.

Vice President Kamala Harris' watch party at Howard University is heating up as performers hit the stage in support of the VP. 

Even though Howard's homecoming happened a month ago, the campus is channeling the same spirit. Howard alumni returned in droves to the campus they once called home for a festival of history. 

The energy is high with various line dances including "Wobble" by rapper V.I.C., Beyoncé's rendition of Maze & Frankie Beverly’s "Before I Let Go" and "Jerusalema" by Master KG and Nomcebo Zikode happening. 

The live music and dancing is reminiscent of the annual festival that fills the same yard on campus and brings students, alumni and community members together to celebrate.

Democrat Don Beyer has won re-election to the U.S. House in Virginia’s 8th Congressional District.

Beyer is currently serving his fifth term in the 8th District which represents Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and parts of Fairfax County. He also serves on Congress' Joint Economic Committee, and the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Beyer was Lieutenant Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1998 and was Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein under President Obama. He ran for governor of Virginia in 1997.

AP has declared VP Kamala Harris as the winner of the presidential race in Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island. All are historically blue states.  

These wins bring her electoral college votes up to 35, while former President Trump has secured 95 electoral votes. 

Donald Trump has won the presidential race in several southern states. 

The Associated Press has called the races in Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee for the former president. 

In Oklahoma, a Democrat has not won the presidential race in Oklahoma since 1964 and Trump was heavily favored to win.

He won Alabama for the third consecutive election, adding nine electoral votes to the Republican’s tally. Similarly, in South Carolina, Trump won its nine electoral votes for a third time.

Mississippi delivered Trump another six electoral votes, continuing a long winning streak for Republicans.

Tennessee remained firmly Republican, giving its 11 electoral votes to Trump's win column. He took Tennessee by about 23 percentage points in 2020 and by 26 points in 2016.

Trump also secured the Sunshine State, where his watch party is being held at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. Once a crucial battleground state, Florida has been drifting toward the Republican Party in recent years. They gave Trump 30 electoral votes.

The Associated Press has called Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia for former President Donald Trump while Vermont has gone to Harris. The AP declared the winner of these races when polls closed statewide.

AP only makes such a call if results from AP VoteCast at poll close show a candidate leading by at least 15 percentage points.

This is Trump's third straight win in West Virginia. No Democrat has won the presidential election in West Virginia since Bill Clinton in 1996 ad Republicans control every elected partisan statewide office in West Virginia.

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice has won the U.S. Senate seat, defeating Democrat Glenn Elliott in a decisive victory. Justice, who led by more than 30 points in the polls leading up to the election, will replace Sen. Joe Manchin, who stepped down earlier this year after holding the seat for 14 years.

Justice, a two-term Republican governor who was initially elected as a Democrat before switching parties, claimed the seat with a commanding lead, cementing West Virginia's position as a Republican stronghold. His victory marks a major win for the GOP as they continue to secure key Senate seats across the country.

The polls have officially closed for Virginia voters. While most local races are expected to be called within a day or two of the elections, opinions from experts vary on when voters will know who the next president will be. 

There are several key Congressional races to look out for in Virginia. 

One of the most competitive races in Virginia is between two Navy veterans in the district around Virginia Beach. Democratic candidate Missy Cotter Smasal is challenging the Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District. 

In District 7, Republican Derrick Anderson and Democrat Eugene Vindman are vying to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a moderate Democrat, who declined to seek reelection so she could run for governor. 

In the Senate race, Republican candidate Hung Cao is aiming to unseat Democratic incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine. 

Kaine is a two-time senator in the commonwealth, seeking a third term. He has focused heavily on the economy as the lead issue throughout his campaign. 

Cao, a 25-year Navy veteran, has focused his campaign on protecting jobs against foreign "unfair trade practices," medication shortages and tighter border security. 

Virginians were also asked whether a section of the state’s constitutional amendment should be reworded to allow the surviving spouse of a soldier who died in the line of duty to claim the same real property tax exemption — something that is currently only available to the surviving spouses of soldiers who are killed in action.

A spate of bomb threats has interrupted voting around the Atlanta area today. Some polling places will have extended hours because the threats forced closures until they could be checked out. 

There's no sign that any of the threats were legitimate.

Beyoncé is making a big push to get fans to the polls and vote. Her recent social media post has some wondering whether she is in D.C. for election night. 

The star recently made an appearance at Vice President Kamala Harris's Houston, Texas rally, her hometown, alongside close friend Kelly Rowland. Her appearance and speech brought a large amount of energy to the crowd.

Her most recent post on Instagram, a reel of her wearing a Harris shirt standing in front of a glass window with a city view in the background, is raising some eyebrows about her location.

Polls in the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th districts closed in Indiana at 6 p.m. and in Kentucky, polls closed in the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th districts. Polls will close fully at 7 p.m. in both states. 

The Associated Press has begun recording results in both states. So far, Trump is leading in both states, which were expected to lean red. 

Indiana has 11 electoral votes. Kentucky has eight electoral votes. 

Former President Donald Trump took to social media hours before polls were even close to closing in Philadelphia, claiming that there has been "massive cheating" in the city. 

Trump posted the accusation to his Truth Social account at 4:39 p.m. Tuesday, as voters continued heading to the polls in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania. 

"A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia. Law Enforcement coming!!!" he wrote. 

Shortly after his post, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner issued a statement countering Trump’s claim and inviting the former president to provide any facts or evidence to back the allegation, WTXF reports. 

Philadelphia City Commissioner Seth Bluestein, a Republican, also denied there was any truth to Trump’s allegation. 

"There is absolutely no truth to this allegation. It is yet another example of disinformation. Voting in Philadelphia has been safe and secure," Bluestein wrote on X.

Stages, security and screens are all being put up at Howard University as they prepare to host Vice President Kamala Harris' watch party. 

Harris graduated from the university in 1986. Harris describes her time on campus as her formative years and where she fell in love with politics. 

'The Yard' is where Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, will hold the watch party. In addition to the increased security measures on campus, streets nearby are blocked off as well as a number of parking restrictions through Sunday, Nov. 10.

In a letter to the Howard community, university President Ben Vinson III says the Department of Public Safety "is working in collaboration with local and national law enforcement agencies on safety measures for our students, faculty, and staff, and an unprecedented number of visitors to our community."

In-person classes are canceled for the week, meaning a number of buildings are closed but students still have access to their dorms.

The U.S. Capitol Police arrested a man who smelled like fuel and was carrying a torch and flare gun at the Capitol Visitor Center in D.C. 

According to officers, the man was stopped during their screening process at the Capitol Visitor Center. Officers closed the center for the day, while the investigation continues.

Capitol Police arrested the suspect at the screening center of the Capitol Visitor’s Center around noon, according to Congressional security sources.

Officials say his clothes reeked of fuel and his clothes were wet. Capitol Police picked up on this immediately and arrested him. The suspect's clothing was removed immediately. He also had a blow torch, a flare gun, and other flammable liquids with him in a backpack. 

One senior source told Fox they were not certain if the suspect intended to self-immolate himself.

The outcome of the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump remains a true toss-up, according to the most recent polling.

Harris has maintained a slight lead nationally, while Trump still had a slight edge in several of the important swing states. 

Marist/PBS/NPR

Released: Monday, Nov. 4

Harris with a 4 point lead nationally

New York Times/Siena

Released: Sunday, Nov. 3

Harris with a 1 point lead nationally

Gallup poll

Released: Wednesday, Oct. 30

Harris viewed more favorably nationally