As Election Day in the United States heads towards a close on Tuesday, 3 November, US President Donald Trump is leading Biden 50.5 percent to 48.5 percent in Florida based on 90 percent of the estimated total votes, reports Reuters.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign claimed the battleground state, tweeting “President Trump wins Florida”.
According to media projections, Trump will win in Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, and Oklahoma. AP has also projected that Trump will win Kansas, South Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
Meanwhile, Democratic nominee Joe Biden is projected to win in Vermont, Virginia and will also chalk up wins in District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey as well as his home state of Delaware.
AP and NBC News have also projected a win for Biden in Connecticut, while several US networks are calling the races in Illinois, Rhode Island, New York, Colorado and New Mexico for the former vice president.
Many polls have closed across the country, among them Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and Georgia.
PROJECTIONS SO FAR
Wins for President Trump:
- Indiana – 11 electoral votes
- Kentucky – 8
- West Virginia – 5
- Alabama – 9
- Mississippi – 6
- Tennessee – 11
- Missouri – 10
- Oklahoma – 7
- South Carolina – 9
- Arkansas – 6
- Louisiana – 8
- North Dakota – 3
- South Dakota – 3
- Wyoming – 3
- Kansas – 6
Wins for Democratic nominee Joe Biden:
- Vermont – 3
- Virginia – 13
- District of Columbia – 3
- Maryland – 10
- Massachusetts – 11
- New Jersey – 14
- Delaware – 3
- Connecticut – 7
- Illinois – 20
- Rhode Island – 4
- New York – 29
- New Mexico – 5
- Colorado – 9
Earlier on Tuesday, Biden won all five votes cast for president in Dixville Notch, a small town in New Hampshire, while Millsfield, which also voted at midnight on Tuesday, voted in favour of President Trump 16 to 5.
OTHER RACES AT STAKE
Senator Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, won his re-election on Tuesday, defeating Amy McGrath, settling in for a seventh term, The New York Times reported.
Meanwhile, Republican Governor Phil Scott has won re-election for the post in Vermont with 68.9 percent of the votes, AP reported.
Delaware made history by electing Sarah McBride to the State Senate. McBride is now the highest-ranking openly transgender official in the country, Vox reported.
Republican senator Marjorie Greene on Tuesday became the first supporter of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory to win a US House seat in Georgia, AP reports.
The news agency added that John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, won the US Senate seat in Colorado, unseating Senator Cory Gardner in a race that is seen as key to the hopes of the party to retake the Senate.
Meanwhile, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez chalked up an overwhelming victory on Tuesday over first-time Republican challenger John Cummings, a 60-year-old Catholic high school teacher and former New York Police Department officer, The New York Times reported.
Lindsay Graham was also re-elected to US Senate in South Carolina, defeating Jaime Harrison.
ELECTION DAY KICKS OFF
Election Day kicked off with long queues seen at many polling stations across the country, as voters turned up to cast their ballots. First Lady Melania Trump was among those who cast their votes in Florida.
Even before Tuesday, as many as seven states, including Texas, Hawaii, Washington, Montana, Nevada, Arizona and Oregon, already went past the turnout figure they had recorded in the 2016 election, with a big spike in pre-election voting, CNN reported.
