Wednesday, November 09, 2016
Democratic presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton/Mr Trump took an early lead in the race to The White House on November 9, 2016/PHOTOS | AFP
Republican candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday morning took an early lead in the race for The White House.
Mr Trump won key battleground states Florida and North Carolina to his haul of state wins in the race for the White House, US television networks projected — dealing a crushing blow to rival Hillary Clinton.
Winning one or both of the southern US states was seen as critical to both candidates, but Trump needed Florida — the Sunshine State — to have a viable path to the magic number of 270 electoral college votes.
Mr Trump was leading with 245 electoral votes against Hillary Clinton’s 209, with 41 out of 50 states counted, the networks reported.
The race for battlegrounds states remained too close to call, but Mr Trump was leading in New Hampshire
The Republican candidate also won the key battleground state of Ohio, boosting his chances of pulling off an upset win in Tuesday's presidential election.
RUNNING TALLY
CNN, ABC and NBC called Trump the winner over Democrat Hillary Clinton, providing 18 electoral votes of the 270 needed for a majority.
But Clinton defeated Mr Trump in a hard-fought contest in battleground Virginia, US television networks reported.
Virginia has 13 electoral college votes and while the state's south leans Republican, its heavily-populated north is staunchly Democratic, and helped put Clinton over the top.
The following is a running tally of states claimed by presidential hopefuls Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump on Tuesday in their race for the White House, according to network projections.
Candidates are racing to hit the magic number of 270 electoral votes, an absolute majority of the 538 members of the electoral college, with the number from each state based on its population size.
A state has one elector for each of its members of the House of Representatives, and one for each of the state's two senators.
The tally has switched back and forth several times over the course of Election Night, with Trump now leading after a big win in Florida.
Several states were still too close to call including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — all vital to Clinton's chances.
CLINTON (209)
California (55)
Colorado (9)
Connecticut (7)
Delaware (3)
Hawaii (4)
Illinois (20)
Maryland (10)
Massachusetts (11)
New Jersey (14)
New Mexico (5)
New York (29)
Oregon (7)
Rhode Island (4)
Vermont (3)
Virginia (13)
Washington (12)
Washington, DC (3)
TRUMP (245)
Alabama (9)
Arkansas (6)
Florida (29)
Georgia (16)
Idaho (4)
Iowa (6)
Indiana (11)
Kansas (6)
Kentucky (8)
Louisiana (8)
Mississippi (6)
Missouri (10)
Montana (3)
Nebraska (5)
North Carolina (15)
North Dakota (3)
Ohio (18)
Oklahoma (7)
South Carolina (9)
South Dakota (3)
Tennessee (11)
Texas (38)
Utah (6)
West Virginia (5)
Wyoming (3)