The Americans remain masters of suspense. While all polling stations closed throughout the United States, the first results of the presidential election were published in dribs and drabs, on the night of Tuesday November 5 to Wednesday November 6. Donald Trump won traditionally Republican states, such as Texas and Florida, and Kamala Harris retained Democratic states, such as California and New York.
The billionaire ex-president is currently leading the election race and has already secured two “swing states”: North Carolina and Georgia. Franceinfo summarizes what we know so far about the results of the American elections.
No surprises in most states
As expected, Donald Trump was in full swing in states considered Republican, such as Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Utah and Texas, states he had already won in 2016 and in 2020.Syears surprise also, the billionaire wins the 30 electoral votes in Florida, the state in which he voted on Tuesday. The billionaire also beat Kamala Harris in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Louisiana, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and 'Oklahoma, West Virginia.
In the camp opposite, pno surprise either, for Kamala Harris who won in the traditionally Democratic states of the northeast of the country, such as the State of New York, with 28 electors, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, the District of Washington, Virginia, as well as Delaware, stronghold of outgoing President Joe Biden.
In the Midwest, the vice-president ensures that Illinois remains blue, while in the west, she unsurprisingly wins Colorado, Washington State and especially the 54 electoral votes of California.
Always suspense in the “swing states”
Seven in number, the pivotal states or swing states hold the keys to the White House. North Carolina, won by Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020, but very undecided throughout the campaign, ultimately remained loyal to the Republican candidate. Georgia followed suit a few hours later, inflicting a real setback on Kamala Harris. In 2020, Joe Biden won in this southern state of the country.
Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin remain in play, as does Pennsylvania, a state in the northeast of the United States that has been particularly scrutinized this year. It is there that Donald Trump escaped an assassination attempt in July and there that the two candidates concentrated their efforts. And for good reason, with 19 electors, the largest contingent of the pivotal states, Pennsylvania is more uncertain than ever. After a victory for Donald Trump in 2016, then for Joe Biden in 2020, the latest polls only gave a microscopic lead of 0.2 points to Kamala Harris.
Republicans take over the Senate
The Republican Party has regained control of the Senate, allowing Donald Trump's camp to dominate at least one of the two chambers of Congress. The House of Representatives is still in the balance, with neither party seeming to have a decisive advantage as the counting of ballots in the 50 states continues on Wednesday.
The Senate swing was made possible thanks to two electoral successes, in West Virginia and Ohio. In the first state, Governor Jim Justice, supported by Donald Trump, came first against Democrat Glenn Elliott. In the second state, Republican Bernie Moreno won on the wire against Democrat Sherrod Brown, in office since 2007.
The US Senate has 100 seats – two per state – and 34 of them were up for vote during the November 5 election. The Democrats had the arduous task of having to defend two-thirds of them, a real challenge given their narrow majority of 51 seats compared to 49 until then.
States divided on abortion
In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling dating from 1973 which guaranteed the right to abortion throughout the country, with the support of conservative magistrates invested during the first term of Donald Trump. In this context, Kamala Harris made the defense of the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy a strong theme of its campaign. Several states also organized referendums on the question : Montana, New York, Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.
In Missouri, the first state to ban abortion (except for medical emergencies) two years ago, voters approved a constitutional amendment that protects and legalizes abortion up to 24 weeks. “A historic event”welcomed the Center for Reproductive Rights, rejoicing to see voters recover “the human rights and freedoms they have lost”.
In Florida, on the contrary, an amendment aimed at reintroducing the possibility of carrying out an abortion until the fetus is viable (around 24 weeks of pregnancy) was rejected, following a citizens' initiative referendum. This amendment indeed received 57% of the votes, while it needed 60% to be adopted.
Finally, voters in New York, Arizona, Maryland and Colorado all secured the right to abortion in their Constitutions.
A turbulent vote in Pennsylvania
Donald Trump complained of fraud in polling stations in Pennsylvania, a key state in the northeast of the United States, without providing concrete proof of his accusations. “There are a lot of rumors about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia”, he wrote on his network TruthSocial. And to specify: “The police are coming.”
The response from the Philadelphia prosecutor was quick. “We've been receiving complaints and allegations of impropriety all day. If Donald Trump has facts to support his wild claims, we want them now. NOW. We're not holding our breath.”said Larry Krasner in a press release.
Furthermore, the governor of Pennsylvania, Democrat Josh Shapiro, assured that the counting would take less time than in 2020 in this key state. Four years ago, we had to wait until Saturday to officially proclaim Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump, with less than 100,000 votes difference out of almost 7 million votes.
