The presidential race appeared to be coming down to a handful of swing states once again, as President Trump performed much better than expected in Florida and seemed in a strong position in other Sun Belt states.
None of the swing states had been officially called as of 11 p.m., but Trump’s strong showing in Miami-Dade County gave a lift to his supporters.
Trump still needed to run the table in the closest states in order to replicate his narrow win in 2016. Joe Biden was leading in early returns in Arizona, and supporters hoped his polling leads outside of Florida would hold up.
Biden’s strongest hope of victory remained winning back the Rust Belt states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania that Hillary Clinton lost four years ago. Several election officials said that final results in those states might not be available until Wednesday or later. The race could also come down to a single Congressional district in Nebraska.
Trump was leading in Texas, and the candidates were in tight races in Georgia and North Carolina. Pundits across the networks said to expect a long night.
“It is moving into a direction that is much more favorable to the president than anticipated,” Reince Priebus, a former White House chief of staff, said on CBS. He added that contrary to conventional wisdom, the “enormous high voter turnout is not hurting Trump, it’s helping President Trump. So far that’s the case.”
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said on ABC that he was hopeful that Democrats still had multiple paths to 270 electoral votes.
“Elections aren’t called on election night,” Coons said. “It’s often days after election night when all the votes are counted.”
Biden was called the winner of New Hampshire, which Clinton won by the narrowest of margins in 2016. As polls closed on the West Coast at 11 p.m. ET, Biden was declared the winner in Washington, Oregon and California. Trump was called the winner in Idaho and Utah.
Trump was declared the winner of Missouri at 10:31 p.m., and of Kansas when polls closed there at 10 p.m. Biden was declared the winner of Colorado at 9:36 p.m.
The Associated Press called a number of states at 9 p.m., when polls closed there. Biden was declared the winner in New York and New Mexico. Trump was called the winner of North Dakota, South Dakota, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Wyoming. None of those outcomes was a surprise.
Trump was declared the winner of Indiana at 8:52 p.m., and of Arkansas at 8:30 p.m. Biden was declared the winner of Virginia soon after polls closed there at 7 p.m. He was also declared the winner of the three electoral votes in Washington, D.C.
Trump was declared the winner of Tennessee, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Alabama when polls closed in those states at 8 p.m. Biden won Illinois, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Earlier, Trump was also declared the winner of Kentucky, West Virginia and South Carolina and Biden was called the winner of Vermont.
CBS News anchor Gayle King summed up the national mood in the opening moments of the Eye’s “America Decides” election coverage by observing: “People just want this to be over — which in this case is spelled O-V-A-H.”
Despite vows of restraint amid an unprecedented electoral process, live coverage inevitably zeroed in on the horse race dynamic in a few pivotal states. North Carolina is unquestionably a bellwether this year. “It could tell the whole story tonight if we get a result,” said “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie on NBC News’ “Decision 2020” desk.
Unlike earlier elections, in many states the vast majority of voters cast ballots before Election Day. Some 101 million votes were cast early, and forecasters predicted that a staggering 160 million ballots would be cast in total.
Early results could shift, as Democrats encouraged their voters to cast ballots early while many Republicans held off until Election Day.