Election update: Former President Trump reclaims White House; other local races decided
Miami–Former President Donald Trump reclaimed the White House with a projected victory in the presidential race against Vice President Kamala Harris, rebounding from his loss four years ago to President Joe Biden.
Trump became the 47th president Elect by securing the 270 electoral votes threshold with 291 and is the second former president to win the White House after losing an election.
He is also the rst convicted felon to win the U.S. presidency and his sentencing in the hush money trial was put on hold until after the election.
Trump won in the most key battleground states including Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan and Georgia to win the election by 51 percent while Harris, who won New Hampshire, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts. and Maryland by wide margins, collected 47 percent and 223 electoral votes.
Trump won in his Florida home base with 56 percent to collect 30 electoral votes.
Trump took the stage on election night at the Palm Beach Convention Center with his wife and running mate Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and thanked their supporters.
"I want to thank America and I'm honored to become the 47th president and the 45th president," Trump said. "This movement, nobody has ever seen before and frankly it's the greatest political movement of all time. This is a victory for America... to make America Great again. We are xing our border and our tax problem."
Vance said: "This victory is the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States."
Harris, who held a watch party at her alma mater Howard University in Washington D.C., gave her concession speech. Wed. afternoon. Harris conceded Wednesday afternoon by calling Trump and ensuring a smooth transition.
The Democrats continue to struggle as the GOP now controls the Senate and after election night.
Trump and Harris clashed over crucial issues such as immigration, tighter restrictions at the border, abortion and the economy.
But after Trump's projected victory, Haitians and other migrants are on edge after Trump proposed the largest deportation in U.S. history for illegal immigrants, and tighter security at the border to prevent them from entering America.
Trump threatened to revoke the Biden's administration's extension of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 300,000 Haitian, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans migrants across the U.S.
Trump's mass deportation proposal drew the ire of Democrats who said it's a blatant racial attack on Haitian immigrants.
Trump spread false rumors that Haitian migrants in Springeld, Ohio were eating their neighbors' pets, which caused migrants to feel targeted with hate.
U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Miami Democrat, said Haitian refugees across the country would be hurt by revoking protections.
But she also said that insensitivity was predictable from the former and now president-elect Trump.
"Trump's commitment to repeal TPS for Haitians should come as no surprise," Wilson said. "He is a racist who wants to deport all immigrants just because they don't t his narrow vision of America. We should be expanding TPS to include more Haitians who are suffering, not deporting them."
The Center for Immigration Studies reports that as of 2022, some 727,000 Haitian immigrants resided in the U.S. Of those, 369,000 lived in Florida, about 51 percent.
Since then, numbers have continued to surge.
The Census Bureau's Current Population Survey shows 852,000 Haitian immigrants in the U.S. as of February 2024; state-level data is not yet available.
"Trump's proposal to terminate TPS for Haitians legally living within this country is a cruel and inhumane decision that would have devastating consequences for countless individuals and families," said Wilson.
Given the ongoing crisis in Haiti, including political instability, natural disasters, and economic hardship, it is morally reprehensible to force Haitians to return to a country where their safety and well-being are at risk," said state Rep. Marie Woodson, a Hollywood Democrat born in Port-de-Paix, Haiti.
On abortion, Trump has maintained he's the most pro-life president in history and said abortion policy should be set by the states after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022.
"My administration would be great for women and their reproductive rights," he said.
Florida's Amendment 4 to repeal the state's six-month abortion ban failed because it didn't muster the 60 percent threshold needed as 57 percent supported it.
It was a victory for Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis who led the abortion ban and campaigned against Amendment 4, even threatening to prosecute TV stations running reproductive rights support ads.
DeSantis' critics accused him of abusing his power to make sure the amendment failed, including spending taxpayer's dollars to keep Florida's ban.
"Gov. DeSantis' opposition to abortion amendment is openly fascist," said MSNBC host Joy Reid.
Now that Trump is headed back to the White House, the country is on an uncertain path, especially if he carries out the mass deportation threat, and his last term was shredded in controversy.
In his nal term in 2020, Trump exploded over funeral expenses for U.S. soldier Vanessa Guillen, who was born in Mexico, and used racial comments when refusing to reimburse her family.
Guillen was 20 years old when a fellow soldier murdered her in 2020 on an U.S. Army base in Fort Hood, Texas.
"It doesn't cost $60,000 bucks to bury a [expletive] Mexican soldier," Trump reportedly said.
During that same time period, Trump expressed a strong desire for dictatorship and total control over the military, apparently admiring Adolph Hitler, who was responsible for the deaths of 6 million Jews during World War II.
"I need the kind of generals that Adolph Hitler had," Trump allegedly said in a private meeting in the White House.
In other local races for the Nov. 5 general election:
For the U.S. Senate, Republican incumbent Rick Scott defeated former U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, capturing 54 percent of the vote while the Democrat won 44 percent.
For Palm Beach State Attorney, chief prosecutor Alexcia Cox becomes the rst woman and rst Black to hold the position after edging out attorney San Stern.
Cox, a Democrat, picked up 49 percent of the vote to Republican Stern's 48 percent.
For Palm Beach County Sheriff, incumbent Ric Bradshaw, a Democrat, defeated his former second in command Michael Gauger, a Republican with 58 percent of the vote to Gauger's 42 percent.
Tony collected 66 percent of the vote to Whatley's 33 percent.
Miami-Dade Assistant Police Director Rosanna Cordero-Stutz, a Republican, was elected the new Miami-Dade County Sheriff for the first time in 60 years.
Cordero-Stutz defeated Miami-Dade Public Safety Director James Reyes, a Democrat, by capturing 55.70 percent of the vote to his 44.30 percent.
The two won a 13-way race in the August primary seeking to run the eighth largest police department in the U.S. with over 4,700 sworn officers without interference from Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who was acting as sheriff, and county commissioners.
Cordero-Stutz's victory was also a defeat for Levine Cava, who handpicked Reyes, a former Broward County Sheriff deputy, to run for the position which was reinstated after six decades when it was abolished by voters due to corruption.
For Palm Beach County Commissioner, former state Sen. Bobby Powell Jr., defeated Leonard Serrator with 69 percent of the vote to his 30 percent.
Amendment 3 to legalize recreational marijuana failed when it didn't receive 60 percent of the vote for approval as 56 percent voters said yes while 44 voted no. Also, Amendment 4 was rejected by voters, keeping the six-week abortion ban in place.
