Former President Donald Trump has been elected as the 47th President of the United States, a race call from the Associated Press said.
After securing victory in Wisconsin, his pathway to the presidency currently seems clear.
There were seven key swing states where Trump and his opponent, current Vice President Kamala Harris, focused their campaign efforts.
- Arizona
- Nevada
- Georgia
- Michigan
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
- Wisconsin
Over 95% of votes have been counted in the latter five key swing states, and Trump has secured all of them. The Associated Press has not called Arizona or Nevada yet, but current results show him leading in those states, too.
Only 270 electoral votes are needed to secure the presidency. Trump currently has 292.
He also appears to have won the popular vote. As of Nov. 6, he has received over 72 million total votes while Harris has almost 68 million.
The last time a republican won the popular vote was George Bush in 2004. Harris also performed poorly, receiving around 13 million fewer votes than Biden did in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump’s landslide reelection breaks many norms.
Until last year, a former president had also never been criminally charged.
As a 34-time convicted felon elected to the White House, he is in a unique position. Trump is still awaiting sentencing related to his hush money case that is supposed to come on Nov. 26.
Reuters said legal experts are saying it’s likely that Trump’s lawyers will request his sentencing to be put off until after his four-year presidency.
This is reinforced by a Supreme Court ruling from July that decided a president is “absolutely immune from criminal prosecution for conduct within his exclusive sphere of constitutional authority.”
Anthony Vasek can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected].
