After the most contentious U.S. presidential race in memory, Americans have taken to the ballot boxes today, November 8, to decide whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will be sworn in as the next commander in chief.
Matzav.com is following all the Election Day action. Be sure to start reading at the bottom to follow the news in chronological order.
1:37 AM EST: Trump has won Pennsylvania, according to the Associated Press.
1:06 AM EST: Hillary Clinton wins Maine, garnering 3 electoral votes. She must run the table and then win Arizona or Alaska to win the election.
12:26 AM EST: Hillary’s lead in Pennsylvania has dropped to about 7,000, with many votes left to be counted in Republican areas.
12:21 AM EST: Nevada and its 6 electoral votes go to Hillary, Fox News projects.
11:40 PM EST: Georgia goes to Trump.
11:35 PM EST: Iowa is projected to go to Trump.
11:34 PM EST: Clinton is projected to win Washington.
11:33 PM EST: Hillary may still pull this out, but in the meantime, the mainstream media is baffled by Trump’s unexpected strength in key swing states.
11:29 PM EST: Trump has broken the “blue wall” and won the state of Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes. Trump is winning the states he needs to be winning in order to be elected. He’s almost there, but must make it to the finish line.
11:14 PM EST: Trump has won Utah.
11:04 PM EST: Trump wins Idaho. Clinton wins California and Hawaii.
10:58 PM EST: The AP and Fox News, among others, have called the crucial state of Florida for Trump in a tight contest. Thank you for staying with Matzav as the votes are counted.
10:53 PM EST: Networks are projecting Trump as the winner of North Carolina.
10:46 PM EST: Clinton wins Colorado.
10:43 PM EST: Looking at the map of Wisconsin, Clinton is in big trouble. Much of the vote from Milwaukee is in, and Clinton is still down by nearly 3 percentage points statewide.
10:40 PM EST: The race in Pennsylvania is too close to call. Trump leads in both Michigan and Wisconsin.
10:27 PM EST: Trump wins Ohio, a vital state for him as he tries to get to 270.
10:20 PM EST: Clinton wins New Mexico. Trump wins Missouri. Keep your eye on New Hampshire and Nevada, important states for Trump to pick up.
10:15 PM EST: Markets are taking a beating as Trump is hanging tight with Clinton in swing states. Florida is still too close to call.
10:05 PM EST: Trump wins Montana.
10:00 PM EST: Clinton takes Virginia, as expected.
9:55 PM EST: Fox News has declared Clinton the winner in New Mexico – to her campaign’s relief. In Virginia, Clinton is now down by just 5,000 votes with 14 percent of precincts still remaining.
9:48 PM EST: Trump’s lead is down to a percentage point in Virginia, with 82 percent of the vote reporting. Trump wins Louisiana.
9:40 PM EST: Clinton wins Connecticut. Thus far, there are have been no shockers in terms of states won or lost. All eyes are on Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
9:37 PM EST: The New York Times and CNN are now saying that Trump has a chance of winning the election. They had previously given him little chance for victory.
9:29 PM EST: Early returns in Michigan are not great for Clinton. Trump is winning by big margins in rural areas and by 2 percentage points overall.
9:19 PM EST: Trump supporters are optimistic about Florida, but pundits are pointing out that Clinton could make a comeback in Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Hillsborough Counties in Florida, especially Broward, which has been slow to count today’s votes. Almost 30 percent of people in that southeastern county are African-American. Obama won more than two votes for every one won by Romney there in 2012, and Clinton is leading by an even bigger margin in that county among votes counted so far this year.
9:16 PM EST: Trump wins Kansas, North Dakota, Wyoming and Texas.
9:06 PM EST: Clinton wins New York, as expected.
9:01 PM EST: Charles Schumer has been re-elected to U.S. Senate in New York.
8:56 PM EST: Trump Takes South Dakota, Nebraska and Arkansas.
8:47 PM EST: The Republicans will maintain control of the House of Representatives, according to NBC, ABC and Fox. The GOP is seen taking 235 seats to the Democrats’ 200, according to NBC’s House Model.
8:41 PM EST: Trump is ahead right now in Florida by a little over 100,000 votes. That is a lot of votes to make up, though it is possible for Hillary to do it. Stay tuned.
8:27 PM EST: Alabama’s 9 electoral votes will go to Donald Trump.
8:20 PM EST: All eyes are on Florida, which is virtually tied right now. About 8,303,744 votes have been counted already. Donald J. Trump leads in that count by about 0.2 points. About 1,230,000 votes remain to be counted. The NY Times says that Trump leads in that vote by about 1.1 points.
8:13 PM EST: The marijuana ballot measure in Florida passed by a landslide, legalizing medical pot for specific debilitating diseases, with 76.9 percent in favor and 29.1 percent opposed.
8:06 PM EST: New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Massachusetts are being called for Hillary.
Trump will win Oklahoma.
8:05 PM ET: Marco Rubio has won reelection for the Senate in Florida.
8:02 PM EST: Rhode Island has been called by Fox News for Hillary Clinton, as expected, as it is a Democrat stronghold.
There have been no Electoral College surprises yet.
7:57 PM EST: Fox News projects Trump winning Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee, while Hillary takes her hometown of Illinois. Georgia is still too close to call.
7:51 PM EST: CBS gives a slight edge to Clinton in Georgia and North Carolina.
7:46 PM EST: South Carolina has been called for Donald Trump.
7:32 PM EST: Incumbent Republican Sen. Rob Portman wins re-election in Ohio, per Associated Press projection, beating former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland.
7:26 PM: West Virginia’s 5 electoral votes are projected to go to Donald Trump, per the Associated Press.
7:22 PM EST: In the early voting returns in Duval and Palm Beach, Florida, Hillary is doing better than the amount that Obama won by overall in those counties in 2012. This is not such good news for Trump.
7:13 PM EST: Voting hours will be extended for anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes in a number of Durham, North Carolina, polling places. There were problems with voting machines there today when computers broke down and some voting had to be done on paper.
7:05 PM EST: Donald Trump has won Kentucky and Mike Pence’s home state of Indiana, while Hillary Clinton has won Vermont, according to ABC News.
7:02 PM EST: Republican Tim Scott has won re-election in the South Carolina Senate race, as did Democrat Patrick Leahy in the state of Vermont.
7 PM EST: Fox News projects Rand Paul winning the Kentucky Senate race.
