US Election 2024: Vice President Kamala Harris secured a major win in California on Tuesday, claiming the state's largest electoral prize of 54 votes. The outcome was expected in the heavily Democratic state where Harris previously served as a US senator and attorney general.
No Republican candidate has won California in a presidential race since 1988, and the GOP has not made a serious push in the state since 2000. California's political landscape is heavily dominated by Democrats, who outnumber Republicans two-to-one in registration and hold every statewide office, as well as control the state Legislature and congressional delegation. The Associated Press officially declared Harris the winner at 11:00 p.m. EST.
Harris also won Washington's 12 electoral votes, besting former President Donald Trump in a state where he is not popular. Washington has not gone for a Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1984. President Joe Biden carried Washington in 2020 with 58 per cent of the vote to Trump's less than 39 per cent. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 11:00 pm EST.
Trump wins Iowa
Trump won Iowa, claiming the state's six electoral 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.
A majority of Iowans backed Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 but chose Trump decisively in 2016 and again in 2020. Now, after easily earning the support of Iowa's Republican caucusgoers earlier this year and buoying his reelection bid, Trump has won the state in three consecutive presidential elections. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 10:40 p.m. EST.
Trump ahead in US presidential race
Donald Trump won the battleground state of North Carolina on Tuesday, fending off a challenge from Kamala Harris, who was looking to flip the state and expand her pathways to 270 electoral votes. According to races called by the Associated Press up to 10.08 am (IST), 230 electoral votes had gone to Republican candidate Trump and 205 to Democratic Party's Harris.
The former Republican president had made stops to the state in each of the last three days of the campaign to deprive Harris of the pickup, as a divided America made its decision in a stark choice for the nation's future Tuesday.
Polls were closed in the other battlegrounds, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Nevada, but the results there were too early to call.
(With AP inputs)
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