Once a vital swing state, Florida has been leaning increasingly Republican in recent years, with no Democratic presidential candidate winning since Barack Obama’s victory in 2012.
Donald Trump expanded his lead in his adopted home state from 2016 to 2020, and the Associated Press declared him the winner at 8:01 p.m. EST (6:31am Wednesday, India time)
Donald Trump not only improved his 2020 performance in Republican areas across Florida but also made gains in the state’s competitive regions, positioning himself to surpass Vice President Kamala Harris in some moderately Democratic areas.
When the race was called, Donald Trump was leading Kamala Harris by 11 percentage points with around 80% of the vote counted. His lead in Miami-Dade County was particularly striking—and deeply discouraging for Democrats. It’s been decades since a Republican presidential candidate carried the county, which Joe Biden had won by approximately 7 points four years prior.
With over 81% of the vote tallied in Florida, the AP called the race. To overtake Trump’s lead, Kamala Harris would have needed 73% of the remaining vote.
Florida last swung for a Democratic presidential candidate more than a decade ago when Barack Obama narrowly defeated Mitt Romney. Since then, the state has trended Republican.
Once a key battleground, Florida’s political landscape has shifted due to both Democratic missteps and demographic changes. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ nearly 20-point landslide win in 2022, including in the longtime Democratic stronghold of Miami-Dade County, highlighted this trend.
It’s not just conservative retirees moving south; immigrants fleeing authoritarianism in Venezuela have found allies in the GOP, similar to Cuban exiles who have long supported the party.
Meanwhile, Democrats have faced challenges in candidate recruitment and funding. Many assumed younger Cuban Americans would lean Democratic, but this hasn’t materialized. Coupled with the high cost of campaigning in Florida’s vast media markets, Democrats find themselves sidelined in the state’s political landscape—essentially lost in the Everglades.
Democrat Kamala Harris took a healthy lead over Republican Donald Trump in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, According to the early trends projected by news agency AP. One of the seven swing states and a pivotal region for the 2024 US elections, Pennsylvania could decide the outcome of the race to the White House. Both Democrat Kamala Harris and her rival, Republican Donald Trump, chose to give one final push in the last leg of their campaigns before voting.
This was another major move from both the candidates who have been in a close contest this elections, hoping to be the one to succeed Joe Biden.
At least 270 of the 538 votes of the electoral college are required for a candidate to win the election. Notably, a candidate can emerge victorious despite losing in the popular vote as the official winner is only announced after electoral votes are considered.
Voting in Pennsylvania began at 7 am ET on Tuesday, November 5, (5.30 pm IST) and will close at 8 pm ET (6.30 am IST on Wednesday).
