Updated 5:58 p.m. — Democrat Joe Biden has carried Michigan and its 16 electoral votes, further dismantling Donald Trump’s Rust Belt wall of support that helped deliver him the presidency four years ago.
The flip from red back to blue was a huge blow to Trump, whose victories in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in 2016 sent him to the White House. Biden also carried Wisconsin, though Pennsylvania hasn’t been called yet.
Biden’s victory in Michigan pushes him to 264 Electoral College votes, six short of the 270 needed to win the White House. Trump is at 214 electoral votes. Nevada, which has six electoral votes, is among the states Democrat Hillary Clinton won in 2016 that hasn’t yet been called.
Biden’s campaign had particularly focused on turning out Black voters in Detroit, who failed to show up for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the numbers that Barack Obama received during his two presidential bids.
Despite needing to win Michigan, Trump took frequent swipes at the state’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, who was the target of an alleged kidnapping plot that was foiled by federal law enforcement. Chants of “Lock her up!” toward Whitmer echoed at Trump’s rally, and he railed against the governor on Twitter for her cautious approach to the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump claims victory in states that AP won’t call yet
Updated 5:15 p.m. — The Associated Press has not yet declared winners of the presidential contests in Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina or Michigan.
President Donald Trump, however, has prematurely declared that he has carried the states.
Trump tweeted Wednesday that he has “claimed, for Electoral Vote purposes, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (which won’t allow legal observers) the State of Georgia, and the State of North Carolina, each one of which has a BIG Trump lead.”
“Additionally, we hereby claim the State of Michigan if, in fact,” he says, “there was a large number of secretly dumped ballots as has been widely reported!”
Trump has been trying for months to undermine public confidence in the election if he does not win.
Trump’s Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, currently has 248 electoral votes, while Trump has 214. It takes 270 to win the presidency.
Biden wins Wisconsin, flipping state from 2016
Updated 2:16 p.m. — Joe Biden has defeated President Donald Trump in battleground Wisconsin, securing the state’s 10 electoral votes and reclaiming a key part of the blue wall that slipped away from Democrats four years ago.
The Associated Press called Wisconsin for Biden after election officials in the state said all outstanding ballots had been counted, save for a few hundred in one township and an expected small number of provisional ballots.
Trump’s campaign has requested a recount. Statewide recounts in Wisconsin have historically changed the vote tally by only a few hundred votes; Biden leads by .624 percentage points out of nearly 3.3 million ballots counted.
The victory for Biden bumps him up to 248 electoral votes, while Trump has 214. It takes 270 to win the presidency.
In 2016, Trump won Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes, a breakthrough that along with wins in Michigan and Pennsylvania helped hand him his first term in the White House. Democrats were determined to reclaim Wisconsin, a state that before Trump hadn’t gone for a Republican since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Trump campaign suing in Michigan to halt count
Updated 2:02 p.m. — President Donald Trump’s campaign says it has filed a lawsuit trying to halt the vote count in battleground Michigan.
The latest counts gives Trump’s Democratic challenger Joe Biden a small lead, but the race is still too early to call.
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien says in a statement Wednesday that the campaign “has not been provided with meaningful access to numerous counting locations to observe the opening of ballots and the counting process, as guaranteed by Michigan law.”
He says a suit was filed Wednesday in the Michigan Court of Claims “to halt counting until meaningful access has been granted.”
Michigan is a critical battleground state that helped deliver Trump the presidency four years ago, along with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Neither Wisconsin or Pennsylvania has been called yet.
Trump wins Maine’s 2nd Congressional District
Updated 1:24 p.m. — President Donald Trump has won one of Maine’s four electoral votes, just as he did in 2016.
Trump carried the state’s 2nd Congressional District, the more rural and conservative of Maine’s congressional districts.
While Democrat Joe Biden easily carried the state itself, Maine is one of only two states that divides its electoral votes.
Biden won the 1st Congressional District and the statewide tally, good for three electoral votes. Trump’s victory in the 2nd Congressional District means he wins one electoral vote.
Maine split its electoral votes four years ago, awarding three to Democrat Hillary Clinton and one to Trump.
2016 marked the first time in state history that Maine divided its electoral votes.
In the race to the 270 electoral votes needed to win, Biden has 238 while Trump has 214.
Joe Biden wins 3 electoral votes in Maine
Updated 3:06 a.m. — Democrat Joe Biden has won at least three of Maine’s four electoral votes in his bid to unseat President Donald Trump.
Biden won the statewide tally and the 1st Congressional District, good for three electoral votes. Trump, meanwhile, hoped to claim one electoral vote in a win in the 2nd Congressional District. The 2nd Congressional District hasn’t yet been called.
Maine split its electoral votes four years ago, awarding three to Democrat Hillary Clinton and one to Trump, who won the more rural and conservative of Maine’s congressional districts.
It marked the first time in state history that Maine divided its electoral votes.
Maine is one of only two states that divides its electoral votes. The other is Nebraska.
In the race to the 270 electoral votes needed to win, Biden has 238 while Trump has 213.
Joe Biden wins Arizona
Updated 2:52 a.m. — Democrat Joe Biden has won Arizona and its 11 electoral votes, flipping a critical battleground state that Donald Trump won four years ago and that could help determine which candidate wins the presidency.
The victory by Biden was a huge blow to Trump’s chances for reelection. Arizona has backed a Democratic presidential candidate only once in the last 72 years.
Biden’s campaign had focused on Arizona as part of its expanded battleground map through the Sun Belt, citing demographic changes, new residents and realignment away from Republicans among key suburban voters.
Arizona is among the more than half a dozen states that will help determine which candidate gets the 270 electoral votes to capture the White House.
Biden’s massive advantage in campaign cash allowed him to put Trump on defense across the country and work to build an unstoppable lead in the Electoral College.
In the race to 270 electoral votes, Biden has 236, while Trump has 213.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
