Trump defeats Harris, Republicans retake US Senate

President-elect Donald Trump wins key battleground states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, securing the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Former President Donald Trump has won Tuesday’s presidential election, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris, according to projections by Fox News and RealClearPolitics early Wednesday morning.

Trump is now projected to win Pennsylvania, with both Fox News and RCP calling the crucial battleground state with its 19 electoral votes, putting him over the top to 270, assuming he wins Alaska, which is widely expected to go Republican by a wide margin.

Fox News has also called Wisconsin, with ten electoral votes, for Trump putting him at 277 electoral votes called already, and 280 electoral votes with Alaska’s expected support for the Republican candidate.

As of 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time, Trump currently leads Harris in the popular vote count with 68.4 million votes, compared to 63.3 million for the Vice President.

Addressing supporters in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump claimed victory, saying his victory in the electoral college and current lead in the popular vote constituted a “powerful” mandate from the American people.

The former president also won the key battleground states of Georgia and North Carolina with leads of over two points in each state, 50.8% to 48.5%, and 51.1% to 47.7% respectively.

With 95.3% of the vote counted in Pennsylvania, Trump currently leads Harris by nearly three points, 50.98% to 48.06%, with an even larger lead in Wisconsin with 90.1% of the vote counted, with Trump up with 51.3% to 47.2% for Harris.

In his home state of New York, Trump made major inroads and is now on track to win the largest share of the vote for a Republican presidential nominee since George H.W. Bush in 1988. With 96% of the vote counted, Trump has received 44.57% of the vote, up from 37.6% in 2020 and 36.5% in 2016.

The prediction market platform Polymarket currently shows Trump with a 98.9% chance of winning the election, with the former president likely to win Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona.

Trump leads Harris in all three states by margins ranging from 1.5 points to 6.3 points.

Should the former president win all three states and lose Nebraska’s Second Congressional district, as he is expected to, he will win 312 of the 538 electoral votes, win Harris receiving 226.

In addition to Trump’s presidential win, Republicans are projected to retake control of the U.S. Senate, flipping control over of seats in West Virginia and Ohio, giving the GOP at least 51 seats, with Democrats projected to win at least 15 seats for a total of 43, with 6 races yet to be called.