US Election 2024: Donald Trump wins key state of Pennsylvania as he is on verge of second stint in White House Trump wins first three battleground states: Pennsylvania, North Carolina and GeorgiaRace to 270: Trump projected as 265-187 in the lead as it standsFollow our live blog on the latest news and views from the US election below

US election: Donald Trump wins first swing state

Will it be Kamala Harris or will it be Donald Trump?

The Irish Independent brings you live coverage of the election right throughout the night and into Wednesday morning as America decides its next president.

We will have live coverage, analysis, on-the-ground reporting from Washington DC, an early-morning podcast on Wednesday alongside all the explainers and video content you need to follow the most-watched political event on earth.

Eoghan MoloneyFive reasons Trump is on the verge of winningIrish Independent's Adrian Weckler writes from Pennsylvania about the count as it stands...It's 6am on Wednesday and Donald Trump is inching toward a presidential win.It was as clear an hour ago when I left the glum Democratic election party for the (re-elected) Irish American Congresswoman Mary Scanlon in Philadelphia's wealthy Delaware county.A sort of pre-post-mortem is already underway on the television networks as to why Trump scored so well among certain demographics, particularly Latino voters and white women.Here is what seems relevant at this half-way stage.Exit polls suggest that 45pc of Hispanics voted for Trump this time, a full 10pc more than 2020. The reasons why will be teased out in the days to come, but one of Harris's strong points — abortion — may not have been as persuasive to a strong Catholic ethos.The single biggest demographic, white women, appear to have voted for Trump in a slight majority (52pc). This compared to just 7pc of black women voting for the Republican and 37pc of Latino women. While much had been made of a 'men v women' presidential race, it appears that white women, in particular, voted for him in a majority.The three biggest issues, according to all polls and exit polls, were 'democracy', the economy and abortion. While pundits have hailed the US economy as being more robust than other developed nations, this may not have translated to enough ordinary voters, who pay record prices for groceries.When Bernie Sanders visited Trinity College earlier this year, he sounded a word of caution about how to fight Trump. Trump, he said, was very good at connecting emotionally with unfashionable white working class voters. Some Democrats, he implied, are not. As an example, President Biden's forgiveness of college student debt, while popular among many families, may also have highlighted to families with no college kids how much they're being left behind. While white working class voters are not the only demographic that matter, they are a key one in the 'rust belt' states of the Blue Wall — Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.It's easy to forget how high a hill Kamala Harris had to climb. Before August, she was a moderately famous vice president. She had to raise $1bn and try to project the image of an outright leader in 90 days. Her campaign ended up, mostly, being about the anti-Trump: civilised and humane on a number of issues. That's powerful, but didn't speak enough to positive policy choices on the economy, in particular.Eoghan Moloney US Presidential Election 2024 External content When displaying external content, data is transferred to third parties. Datawrapper External content When displaying external content, data is transferred to third parties.Eoghan MoloneyTrump declares victory Taking to the stage in Florida, Trump thanked "the people for electing me as their 47th President of the United States". He said he was going to "heal our country" and that he would "fix the border and fix everything in the US". He also said he believed he was on course to win the popular vote and reach 315 electoral college votes.Eoghan MoloneyPennsylvania called for Donald Trump Trump is now within 5 electoral college votes of winning the presidency after CNN projected he would win the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, in a fatal blow to the Democrats' hopes of retaining the White House. Eoghan MoloneyBattleground update - Michigan More good news for Trump as he leads Harris 52pc-46pc with 70pc of the vote counted. Now, Wayne county, which houses Detroit and a lot of Democratic voters, is still to tabulate a lot of votes. But this state looks to be heading Trump's way, along with the presidency.Eoghan MoloneyFox News are the first to jump Rather unsurprisingly, Fox News have been the first news outlet in the US to call the result of this election and they say Donald Trump will be the 47th president of the United States.Eoghan MoloneyTrump's supporters are in a jubilant mood as they await the former president to arrive at his campaign party HQ in West Palm Beach, Florida. Trump had been watching the election results unfold in Mar-a-Lago with Elon Musk, Dana White, RFK Jr, and many other supporters earlier in the night. Supporters of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump react at the site of the Election Night rally for Trump, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. U.S., November 5, 2024. REUTERS/Brian SnyderEoghan MoloneyA picture speaks a thousand words... The campus of Howard University is pictured after the conclusion of an election night campaign watch party for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Wednesday. AP Photo/Susan Walsh)Eoghan Moloney

US election 2024 – how the night unfolded

Kamala Harris's path to the White House has narrowed as Donald Trump was projected to win two key battlegrounds in the contest to become the next US president. Here is a timeline of how the election night has unfolded so far. November 5:11pm – The first polls closed in the states of Indiana and Kentucky. 11.30pm – Voting hours were extended at five polling places in Georgia's Fulton County that were briefly closed earlier in the day because of bomb threats that were determined to be non-credible. 11.39pm – Donald Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying "law enforcement coming" to Philadelphia because of "massive cheating" there. The Republican City Commissioner in Philadelphia, Seth Bluestein, posted on X saying: "There is absolutely no truth to this allegation. It is yet another example of disinformation. Voting in Philadelphia has been safe and secure." November 6:12am – Donald Trump projected to win Kentucky, as expected. Polls close in South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and the key battleground state of Georgia.12.05am – Kamala Harris projected to pick up the Democratic safe state of Vermont. Donald Trump projected to win Indiana.12.30am – Polls close in Ohio, West Virginia and the battleground state of North Carolina. Projected results come in almost immediately as Donald Trump picks up West Virginia.1am – Polls in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, as well as 16 other states, close. Donald Trump is projected to win Florida, Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Kamala Harris is projected to win District of Columbia, Maryland and Massachusetts.1.20am – Donald Trump projected to win in South Carolina.1.30am – Donald Trump is projected to win the solidly Republican state of Arkansas.2am – North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Texas projected to be won by Donald Trump. Polls close in the battleground states of Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as 15 other states.2.10am – As expected, Kamala Harris projected to win Delaware. Polls close in the swing state of Michigan.2.25am – Louisiana is projected to be won by Donald Trump. Kamala Harris is projected to win Rhode Island and New York.2.40am – Illinois is projected for Kamala Harris.2.50am – Polls close in more than 40 of the 50 states.3am – Donald Trump projected to win Montana, Utah and Mississippi. Polls close in three more states, including the final battleground of Nevada.3.10am – Colorado projected to be won by Kamala Harris.3.20am – Donald Trump projected to win Ohio.3.35am – Projections in for Iowa and Kansas as Donald Trump expected to win the Midwestern states.4am – California projected for Kamala Harris and Idaho projected for Donald Trump.4.10am – Kamala Harris projected to win Oregon.4.30am – Kamala Harris projected to win Washington.4.40am – Donald Trump projected to win the battleground state of North Carolina, gaining its 16 electoral college votes.5am – Hawaii projected to be won by Kamala Harris.5.10am – Virginia projected for Kamala Harris.5.37am – Donald Trump projected to win the battleground state of Georgia, gaining its 16 electoral college votes.5.45am – A senior member of Kamala Harris's campaign confirms the vice president will not be speaking tonight.5.55am – Kamala Harris projected to win New Mexico.6am – Polls now closed across the US. William Warnes, PAEoghan MoloneyKamala Harris projected to win New Mexico The southwestern state, as predicted, will go to Harris, who will receive the five electoral college votes, bringing her tally to 187.Eoghan Moloney

In a first, more US voters identified as independent over Democrats and tied Republicans

Self-identified independents accounted for a larger share of voters in Tuesday's US presidential election than Democrats and were tied with Republicans, Edison Research exit polling data showed. It was the first time since Edison began exit polling in 2004 that independents' share of overall turnout has exceeded that of one of the two major US political parties. The independent share stood at 34pc in the latest update of Edison's exit poll, compared with 34pc for Republicans and 32pc for Democrats. The independent turnout share was up 8 percentage points from 2020, when at 26pc it was a distant third to both Democrats and Republicans. Eoghan MoloneyKamala Harris won't address supporters at her campaign's headquarters in Washington DC tonight, electing to wait until all the votes are counted before speaking about the election, a campaign official told Democrats.Eoghan MoloneyDonald Trump wins second battleground state of Georgia Donald Trump has been projected as the winner of the key battleground state of Georgia, CNN have reported. This moves Trump to 246 electoral college votes and just 24 short of the 270 mark he needs for a second stint at president of the US. The former president is currently leading the polls in all other five battleground states.Eoghan MoloneyDonald Trump is on his way to a convention centre in West Palm Beach, Florida, to address his supporters amid the news he has won the first battleground state and looks increasingly likely to be returned to the White House for a second term.Eoghan MoloneyBattleground watch - Wisconsin With more than 80pc of votes tallied in the crucial swing state, Trump leads Harris by 51pc to 47.3pc. Harris' narrowing window to the White House is quickly becoming minute. Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel

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