In a remarkable political comeback, Donald Trump has been elected the 47th President of the United States.
Result projections showed that Trump won the key state of Wisconsin, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the critical battleground.
The win delivers 10 Electoral College votes to Trump.
With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.
He now stands at 277 electoral votes while Harris has 224.
Of the seven crucial swing states, Trump won four, namely, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and is ahead in Michigan, Nevada and Arizona.
Wisconsin was the same state that put Trump over the top when he won in 2016.
The difference again came in Milwaukee, after nearly every other county in the state had wrapped up their count. The update in Milwaukee cut into Trump’s lead, but not by enough that it would provide Harris with a path to victory.
He narrowly won Wisconsin in 2016, becoming the first Republican since Ronald Reagan to capture the state.
He lost it in 2020 to Democrat Joe Biden. In 2020, Trump attempted to overturn his loss in the state through lawsuits and recounts but failed.
Both Harris and Trump made Wisconsin a central focus of their campaigns.
Trump’s election presents an unprecedented legal situation as the President-elect was scheduled to be sentenced in New York criminal court this month after being convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records earlier this year.
Trump also faces other criminal charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith in his ongoing federal election subversion case.
Never before has a criminal defendant been elected to the nation’s highest office, just as an Ex-President had never been criminally charged until last year.
The former President made the multiple criminal charges against him a focal point in his 2024 campaign as he argued he was being unjustly targeted and vowed to seek “retribution.”
Trump, 78, will also become the second former President in history to win back the White House after losing a reelection bid while in office. Grover Cleveland was the first.
The former President’s election comes months after surviving two assassination attempts against him.
Since his first successful White House bid in 2016, Trump has reshaped the Republican party in his image and holds an iron grip over a party that once appeared ready to move on from him after the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021.
Republicans Projected To Take Control Of Senate
According to projections, the Republican Party is set to take control of the Senate, shifting the balance of power in Washington.
There are still lots of races being counted, but it looks clear that the Democrats will lose their effective majority.
The Republican march to control started early on election night when West Virginia Governor, Jim Justice was projected to pick up the Senate seat vacated by retiring Democrat-turned-independent Senator, Joe Manchin.
The Democrats were hoping to take a Republican seat to limit the expected damage in West Virginia but, according to a projection, have failed to unseat Ted Cruz in Texas, which was one of the party’s key targets.
In Ohio, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who has served in the chamber for three terms, was projected to lose his reelection bid, in a state that has gone from a perennial political bellwether during his tenure to a deep red stronghold.
The new Republican senator will be businessman Bernie Moreno, a vehement Trump supporter.
Those close to Trump told a news agency that Trump’s victory is even more solidified with GOP control over Congress’ upper chamber, acknowledging that the makeup of the Senate will allow a smoother pathway to confirming a future Cabinet and greenlighting his agenda.
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