The 2024 race for the White House came to a close early in the morning on Nov. 6 with former President Donald Trump winning the presidency after taking several swing states.
With a win projected in Wisconsin by the Associated Press, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.
Republicans regained control of the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House majority is still unknown, and decisions were made on important ballot measures in several states.
Here are 7 of the biggest takeaways from Election Night.
Trump Wins, Declares ‘Magnificent Victory’
“I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president,” Trump said at his campaign watch party in South Florida.
Trump called it a “magnificent victory” as it appeared he may secure enough votes to also win the popular vote, the first time a Republican has done so in 20 years.
A Trump victory makes him the first president since Grover Cleveland to win two nonconsecutive White House terms.
Polls showed a neck-and-neck race leading into late October, with some surveys throughout the battlegrounds tipping in Trump’s favor.
The Harris campaign saw promise in the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, spending much of their resources in those states throughout the final weeks. All three were called for Trump by early Wednesday morning.
Trump improved on many of his 2016 margins in key states, and is currently leading in votes tallied in Nevada, the one battleground he lost in 2016.
Turnout High
Voter turnout in the 2018, 2020, and 2022 elections was among the highest in U.S. history, with roughly 66 percent of the nation’s voting-eligible population voting in 2020,
according to the Pew Research Center.
Based on some early estimates, particularly in Michigan and Georgia, turnout this year may exceed what the nation saw in 2020.
While official turnout data will not be available until all counties in each state finalize their election results, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said early on Election Day that, based on early voting numbers, the Peach State would likely surpass 2020 turnout by the time polls closed that evening.
Raffensperger expected more than 5 million votes in total, outpacing the state’s numbers four years prior when just under 5 million voted in the presidential election.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson had a similar message while addressing reporters on election night.
When asked if she thought turnout would exceed 2020, she said, “That’s my hope.”
“We’re very hopeful that we'll bring that turnout record we set in 2020. No matter what, it’s very clear turnout is high,” Benson said. “I’m really proud of that.”
Nearly 7 million ballots were cast in Pennsylvania in 2020. By Wednesday morning, when 96 percent of ballots were tallied in the state, the Keystone State had nearly reached the same threshold.
Exit Polls Show Key Demographic Swing for Trump
National and swing state exit polling results on Election Day showed Trump made substantial gains among Latino voters both nationally and in swing states.
In the National Election Pool exit poll conducted by Edison Research on Nov. 5, Trump made key gains with the minority group that makes up at least 13 percent of the American electorate.
Among respondents who identified themselves as Latinos, 53 percent of respondents said they voted for Harris and 45 percent said they voted for Trump. That is a 13 percentage point improvement over Trump’s performance with the group in 2020 when he ran against President Joe Biden.
Trump also saw significant improvements with Latino voters in the battleground states. In Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Nevada, he improved his performance with Latino voters by at least 10 percentage points over 2020.
In Nevada, a state where one-third of the population identifies as Latino, Trump tied with Harris among Latino voters. According to the responses given to exit pollsters, both candidates received 47 percent of the Latino vote.
GOP Wins Senate Control
Pending the results of the presidential election, the most consequential news of Election Night was the Republican Party’s victory in the battle for Senate control. As of 1:00 a.m. on Nov. 6, Senate Republicans won back control of the body after flipping two seats in the Rust Belt states of Ohio and West Virginia.
In Ohio, three-term incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) lost his race to Republican businessman Bernie Moreno by four percentage points. Brown was the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Ohio, which has been highly receptive to former President Donald Trump’s manufacturing-focused political message. Trump has won Ohio in the last three presidential elections (including 2024), which is also the home state of his running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).
In West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) won the open race to succeed retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.). The state, despite being a historically Democratic stronghold, has rapidly become Republican since 2015, when Trump emerged as a force in national politics. Justice had been widely expected to win the race.
Republicans will formally assume the majority on Jan. 3, 2025, when the 119th Congress takes office, after nearly four years in the minority. The Senate GOP will have significant influence over their agenda, controlling both executive and judicial nominations as well as all legislation.
The victory comes amid a moment of flux for the Senate GOP leadership. Longtime Senate Republican Conference Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has held the office for 17 years since 2007, will depart his role in November. The conference will, thus, be led by a new Senate Republican Leader, who will quickly become the Senate Majority Leader — one of the highest-ranking offices in the United States government.
Republican Senate Incumbents Hold Seats Amid Stiff Challenges
The Senate Republican Conference had a good Election Night, in large part because several incumbent members won re-election despite strong challenges from Democratic and Independent candidates.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) won re-election to a third term, beating his Democratic rival Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas). Cruz won by over 10 percentage points, stymying Democrats’ hopes of winning a statewide race in Texas amid changing demographics.
In Nebraska, Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) won re-election to a third term after defeating Independent candidate Dan Osborn, a union leader who closed the polling gap with her in the final weeks of the campaign. In response, Republican groups spent millions of dollars on attack advertisements in Nebraska to defend Fischer, despite the state’s overwhelming Republican lean. Fischer won by less than 5 percentage points.
Meanwhile, in the non-battleground Florida, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) won re-election to a second term. He defeated former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Fla.) by a landslide margin of 13 percentage points. The defeat deepens Democrats’ deficit in Florida, once a swing state but now overwhelmingly Republican — and Trump’s home state, too.
House Control Uncertain
While Republicans are projected to take the presidency and the Senate, control of the lower chamber remains uncertain.
At the time of publication, the Associated Press projected that Republicans would take at least 198 seats and Democrats would take at least 180. Races that will ultimately decide which party controls the lower chamber in the 119th Congress have yet to be called.
For Trump, control of the House will be essential to carrying out his legislative agenda, particularly on issues like tax policy.
In his remarks, after many news outlets declared him the victor, Trump expressed confidence about his party’s prospects in the House.
Early returns paint a conflicting picture of the race so far.
In New York, home to several crucial House races, some Republican incumbents seem on track to retain their seats, including Reps. Mike Lawler and Nick LaLota.
However, Democrats also unseated two incumbents in the state: Josh Riley unseated Rep. Marc Molinaro while Democrat John Mannion won over Rep. Brandon Williams.
In New York, where the GOP won key races in 2022 in taking back the House, Democrats picked up seats in the state’s 19th and 22nd congressional districts.
In nearby Pennsylvania, Republicans also seemed poised to unseat two Democratic incumbents, Reps. Susan Wild and Matt Cartwright, with 99 percent of the vote reported.
In neighboring Ohio two Democratic incumbents, Reps. Emilia Sykes and Marcy Kaptur were positioned to retain their seats.
Several California races crucial to both parties remain too close to call.
Control of the House will likely not be known for days.
Voters Surprise on Some Ballot Issues
On Nov. 5, voters in 10 states were asked to weigh abortion-related ballot measures.
In the blue states of Colorado, Maryland, and New York, voters approved measures to enshrine abortion access in their constitutions. In conservative South Dakota, where abortion is almost totally banned, a push to establish abortion access was soundly rejected.
In Florida, where the electorate is more politically diverse, a similar amendment that many thought might pass failed to reach the 60 percent majority needed for adoption. The result handed the pro-life movement its first win at the ballot box since Dobbs.
A similar shock came with the failure of Florida’s Amendment 3, which sought to legalize recreational marijuana use in a state where the drug’s medicinal use is already legal. As with the abortion amendment, the measure was supported by a simple majority but not enough of the electorate to pass.
On the other hand, in red Nebraska, voters approved measures to legalize the possession and use of medicinal marijuana and create a commission to regulate the industry.
Another noteworthy result came with Californians’ approval of Proposition 36, a measure that will increase the penalties for fentanyl dealers and repeat shoplifters. The proposal reverses part of a 2014 initiative that relaxed penalties for nonviolent drug and property crimes in the state.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
