Election updates from Nov. 3 and 4
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CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — Election Day 2020 came and went as an unprecedented amount of Americans cast their ballots through early and mail-in voting prior to Nov. 3 in the General Election given the coronavirus pandemic. NewsNation will provide live updates as states continue to count ballots and report results; it is standard practice to continue tabulating votes after Election Day.
Get live election results now on NewsNationNow.com and the free NewsNation Now app.
At the top of the ticket is the U.S. presidency, all 435 U.S. House seats, 35 U.S. Senate seats and 11 gubernatorial races.
As of Wednesday afternoon, President Donald Trump has 214 Electoral College votes to Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s 264 as of the latest AP race call of Michigan for Biden.
All updates in eastern standard time
9:12 p.m. – Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters wins reelection
Democratic Michigan Sen. Gary Peters won reelection Wednesday, defeating Republican challenger John James in a tight race.
The 61-year-old Peters continued Democrats’ dominance of Senate elections in the battleground presidential state. Republicans have won just once there since the 1970s, despite having spent heavily to try to unseat Peters in one of their few pickup opportunities.
Peters is a former congressman, state lawmaker, lottery commissioner and investment adviser who served in the Navy Reserve. He ran by emphasizing his bipartisan work, his ranking as one of the most effective senators and James’ support for President Donald Trump.
“I am sincerely honored that the voters of Michigan have once again put their trust and confidence in me to represent them in the United States Senate,” Peters said in a statement. “As we look ahead, I am energized to keep working to move our state forward and continue putting Michigan first.”
6:58 p.m. – Trump campaign files lawsuit in 3rd state, Georgia, seeking to pause vote count in key battlegrounds
Trump campaign files lawsuit in 3rd state, Georgia, seeking to pause vote count in key battlegrounds, according to the Associated Press. His campaign also filed lawsuits Wednesday in Pennsylvania and Michigan and announced it would ask for a recount in Wisconsin, a state The Associated Press called for Democrat Joe Biden Wednesday afternoon.
5:58 p.m. – AP calls Michigan for Biden
The Associated Press calls Michigan for Joe Biden. The Wolverine State has 16 electoral votes for the taking. This puts Biden at 264 electoral votes to President Trump’s 214.
4:45 p.m. – Trump campaign press conference
PHILADELPHIA — President Donald Trump’s campaign held a press conference in Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon.
His campaign filed lawsuits Wednesday in Pennsylvania and Michigan and announced it would ask for a recount in Wisconsin, a state The Associated Press called for Democrat Joe Biden Wednesday afternoon.
“We are going to continue the lawsuit here,” Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference in Philadelphia. “We’re going to bring a second one, and then we’re going to bring a federal lawsuit and we’re going to take a very good look at whether we bring this nationally. We’re certainly going to bring it here (Pennsylvania) and to Wisconsin. Quite possibly, we’ll do a national lawsuit and we’ll really expose the corruption of the Democrat party.”
Watch the campaign’s press conference here.
4:12 p.m. – Joe Biden speaks from Delaware
Democratic nominee Joe Biden won the presidential race in Wisconsin, along with its 10 electoral votes, according to the Associated Press. Biden spoke in Delaware following the badger state win.
“Here, the people rule,” Biden said. “Power flows from the people. It’s their will that determines who will be the president of the United States.”
Biden assured the public that his remarks don’t equate to claiming a nationwide victory.
3:30 p.m. – Donald Trump’s campaign press conference
President Donald Trump’s campaign scheduled a press conference in Philadelphia for 3:30 p.m.; they have now rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. They then relocated the press conference. Check back for a video of their remarks.
2:30 p.m. – Joe Biden scheduled to speak from Delaware
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is expected to speak from Wilmington, Delaware at 2:30 p.m. (ET).
2:25 p.m. – AP calls Wisconsin for Joe Biden
Joe Biden wins Wisconsin, according to the Associated Press. The Badger State is considered a battleground state with 10 electoral votes up for grabs. Biden now has 249 electoral votes, Trump has 214.
2 p.m. – Arizona to issue unofficial results Wednesday night
Arizona is expected to release updated unofficial results at 9:00 p.m. ET Wednesday. The Associated Press declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner in Arizona. The AP called the race at 2:50 a.m. EST Wednesday, after an analysis of ballots cast statewide concluded there were not enough outstanding to allow Trump to catch up. The Grand Canyon State has 11 electoral votes up for grabs.
1:51 p.m. – GOP Sen. Collins wins reelection in Maine
Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has won reelection in Maine, turning back a challenge by Democrat Sara Gideon, the Associated Press confirmed.
Collins survived to serve a fifth term following a costly race that was viewed as pivotal for Republicans to maintain control of the Senate.
1:30 p.m. – Biden gets 3 electoral votes from Maine, Trump gets 1
President Donald Trump has won one of Maine’s four electoral votes, just as he did in 2016, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Trump carried the state’s 2nd Congressional District. Biden won the 1st Congressional District and the statewide tally, good for three electoral votes. Trump’s victory in the 2nd Congressional District means he wins one electoral vote.
Maine is one of only two states that divides its electoral votes.
Maine split its electoral votes four years ago, awarding three to Democrat Hillary Clinton and one to Trump.
12:15 p.m. – Unofficial Michigan and Georgia counts expected by the end of day, Pennsylvania at 50% counted
Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Wednesday the state is still counting “tens of thousands” of ballots and that an unofficial tally could expected by end of the day.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Wednesday that all ballots will be counted that day. He projected about 200,000 ballots still need to be counted.
“My team has set reminders to counters to get all, I repeat all of our results counted today. Every legal vote will count,” Raffensperger said.
Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said the state is approaching 50% of mail ballots counted and vowed that every vote will be tallied before results are announced.
“There are still millions of ballots left to be counted,” she said. “We are going to count every single ballot.”
11:30 a.m. – Election update expected from Georgia
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is scheduled to hold the briefing on Georgia’s vote-counting efforts at 11:30 a.m. (ET).
10:37 a.m. – Pennsylvania may not have election results by Wednesday, governor says
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said that the state may not know the results of its election by Wednesday.
Wolf said counties are still reporting election results, which he said are “coming in more slowly than they have in the past.”
But Wolf assured the public that the delay signals that the system is working.
“We may not know the results even today, but the important thing is that we have accurate results,” he said.
Watch Wolf’s full news briefing from Wednesday morning:
10 a.m. – Election updates expected from Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin
Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin will provide updates on election results Wednesday.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar are preparing to provide an election update at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson plans to give a live update on the state’s counting process at 11 a.m. ET.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission will hold a post-election media briefing at 12:30 p.m. ET.
NewsNation will be providing live coverage of all three updates on NewsNationNow.com and on the NewsNation Now app.
5:57 a.m. – Nevada won’t give an election update until Thursday
Nevada officials won’t give an update on the results of the presidential election until Thursday at 9 a.m. PT.
The Nevada Secretary of State’s Elections Division announced early Wednesday that no further election results updates would come until Nov. 5.
The state said in a statement on Twitter that it has counted all in-person early and in-person Election Day votes, as well as mail ballots through Nov. 2. Nevada elections officials still need to count mail ballots received on Election Day, mail ballots that will be received over the next week and provisional ballots.
3:08 a.m. – Biden wins 3 of 4 Maine electoral votes
Democrat Joe Biden secured a statewide victory in Maine, winning at least three of the state’s four electoral votes in his bid to unseat President Donald Trump.
Biden collected a majority of first-place votes in the 1st Congressional District and in the statewide tally, good for three electoral votes. It was too early to call the winner of the 2nd Congressional District’s electoral vote.
Four years ago, Maine split its electoral votes, when Trump also was awarded one vote to Hillary Clinton’s three after he won the rural, conservative district. The 2016 election marked the first time in state history that Maine divided its electoral votes.
Maine is one of only two states that divide their electoral votes. The other is Nebraska.
2:59 a.m. – Biden wins Arizona, Mark Kelly takes Senate seat
Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins Arizona. The Grand Canyon State has 11 electoral votes up for grabs.
Since 1952, the state has traditionally gone Republican in presidential elections except for Bill Clinton’s win in 1996. Mitt Romney beat Barack Obama by about nine points in 2012.
In 2016, Donald Trump won Arizona by a margin of 3.5 points against Hillary Clinton.
Democrat Mark Kelly wins election to U.S. Senate from Arizona, beating incumbent Sen. Martha McSally.
2:20 a.m. – President Trump addresses nation
The president spoke live from the White House. After thanking “the American people for their tremendous support” Trump thanked his family and First Lady and mentioned important state wins.
“This is a fraud on the American public, this is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win the election,” Trump said to cheers and applause.
1:55 a.m. – Biden wins 1 of 4 Maine electoral votes
Democrat Joe Biden has won at least one of Maine’s four electoral votes in his bid to unseat President Donald Trump.
Biden won the state’s 1st Congressional District, good for one electoral vote.
Maine’s statewide vote, which is worth two electoral votes, and the state’s 2nd Congressional District haven’t yet been called.
Maine split its electoral votes four years ago, awarding three to Democrat Hillary Clinton and one to Trump. Trump won the 2nd Congressional District, the more rural and conservative of Maine’s congressional districts.
It marked the first time in state history that Maine divided its electoral votes.
Maine is one of only two states that divides its electoral votes. The other is Nebraska.
1:49 a.m. – Republican Steve Daines wins reelection to U.S. Senate from Montana
Republican Steve Daines of Montana has won a second Senate term, dealing a blow to Democrats’ hopes of gaining a majority in the chamber.
The former business executive and Donald Trump loyalist defeated Gov. Steve Bullock.
1:31 a.m. – Nebraska allocates 1 Electoral College vote to Biden, 4 to Trump
Nebraska will allocate one Electoral College vote to Joe Biden, while four electoral votes go to Donald Trump.
Nebraska gives two electoral votes to the statewide winner, and the rest are allocated by congressional districts. AP called the Nebraska race for Trump around 9 p.m. on election night.
1:06 a.m. – Donald Trump wins Texas
The Associated Press calls Texas for Donald Trump, pushing his electoral vote count up to 212 to Biden’s 223.
12:45 a.m. – President Trump tweets he will be making a statement
President Donald Trump tweeted “I will be making a statement tonight. A big WIN!”
A follow up tweet from Trump claiming “they are trying to STEAL the Election” was marked as possibly misleading by Twitter.
No word yet on what time the president will speak, but NewsNation will carry it live.
12:45 a.m. – Joe Biden addresses the nation
WILMINGTON, Del. — Joe Biden spoke live from Delaware, saying in part: “We feel we’re on track to win this election.” He told supporters “we just have to be patient.”
12:38 a.m. – Republican Joni Ernst wins reelection to U.S. Senate from Iowa
12:36 a.m. – Donald Trump wins Florida
AP calls Florida for Donald Trump. Biden has 223 Electoral College votes to Trump’s 174 as of the AP’s latest race call.
12:30 a.m. – Joe Biden expected to address the nation
Joe Biden is set to speak at approximately 12:30 a.m. from Wilmington, Delaware. Watch live now on NewsNation.
12:21 a.m. – Donald Trump wins Ohio, Montana and Iowa
AP calls Ohio, Montana and Iowa for Donald Trump. Trump has 145 electoral votes to Biden’s 223 as of these race calls.
12:13 a.m. – Joe Biden wins Minnesota
Joe Biden wins Minnesota and its 10 electoral votes. Biden leads the electoral votes with 223 to Donald Trump’s 118.
12:06 a.m. – Joe Biden wins Hawaii
Joe Biden wins Hawaii and its four electoral votes. This puts him at 213 electoral votes to Trump’s 118 as of this latest race call by AP.
AP declared Biden the winner of Hawaii as soon as polls closed in the state, even though election officials have yet to release any results.
“Results from AP VoteCast and an analysis of early voting statistics confirmed expectations that the state’s longstanding political trends in favor of Democratic presidential candidates will hold,” the AP explained.
A Republican presidential candidate hasn’t won Hawaii since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Trump lost Hawaii by 32 points in 2016.
11:08 p.m. – Donald Trump wins Utah
Donald Trump wins Utah and its six electoral votes. Trump now has 118 electoral votes to Joe Biden’s 209.
With 65% of the expected vote counted when AP called the race, Trump had a 145,000-vote lead over Biden out of roughly 913,000 ballots cast, which amounted to a roughly 16 percentage point lead.
Lyndon Johnson in 1964 was the last Democratic presidential candidate to win the state. Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in Utah by 18 percentage points in 2016, even with Utah-native Evan McMullin appearing on the ballot as a conservative alternative to Trump.
11 p.m. – AP calls 4 states in presidential race
Joe Biden wins California, Oregon and Washington. Donald Trump wins Idaho. The latest race calls put Biden at 209 electoral votes to Trump’s 112.
10:54 p.m. – Joe Biden wins New Hampshire
Joe Biden wins New Hampshire and the state’s 4 electoral votes. This gives Biden 135 electoral votes and Trump remains at 108.
AP called the race with 48% of the expected vote counted, Biden led Trump by nearly 9 percentage points — or about 33,000 votes out of 382,000 counted.
Completed vote counts in a representative selection of precincts in communities across New Hampshire also showed Biden comfortably ahead of Trump.
New Hampshire last voted for a Republican presidential contender in 2004 when George W. Bush was on the ballot. Democrat Hillary Clinton won the state by less than a percentage point in 2016.
10:31 p.m. – Donald Trump wins Missouri
President Donald Trump wins Missouri and its 10 electoral votes. This win gives Trump a total of 108 electoral votes to Biden’s 131.
10:10 p.m. – Republican Tommy Tuberville wins election to U.S. Senate from Alabama, beating incumbent Sen. Doug Jones
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Tommy Tuberville recaptured a U.S. Senate seat for Republicans by defeating Sen. Doug Jones in Alabama. Jones had widely been considered the Senate’s most endangered Democrat.
Republicans had made recapturing the once reliably conservative seat a priority in 2020.
Tuberville, who has never held public office and last coached four years ago, aligned himself closely with President Donald Trump and declared in the primary campaign: “God sent us Donald Trump.”
Jones had won the seat during a 2017 special election in which GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore was publicly accused of sexual misconduct involving young women decades ago.
The GOP hammered Jones over his vote to convict Trump in the Senate impeachment trial earlier this year.
10:08 p.m. Delaware elects country’s first-ever openly transgender person to state Senate
Delaware elected the country’s first-ever openly transgender person to the state Senate Tuesday.
Sarah McBride, a trans activist who acted as a spokeswoman for the Human Rights Campaign for several years, defeated Republican Steve Washington for the seat.
“I think tonight’s results demonstrate what I’ve known my entire life, which is that the residents of this district are fair-minded, and they’re looking at candidates’ ideas and not their identity,” McBride said Tuesday night. “It is my hope that a young LGBTQ kid here in Delaware or really anywhere in this country can look at the results and know that our democracy is big enough for them, too.”
McBride easily won the Democratic primary in her Wilmington-area district and is a favorite to become the first trans member of any state Senate in the nation.
She has long-standing ties to Delaware’s best-known political family. She worked on the late Beau Biden’s campaigns for state attorney general, and Beau’s father, Joe Biden, wrote the foreword to her memoir.
10:06 p.m. – Republican John Cornyn wins reelection to U.S. Senate from Texas
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican John Cornyn wins reelection to U.S. Senate from Texas.
9:59 p.m. – Donald Trump wins Kansas
Donald Trump wins Kansas and its six electoral votes. At this time, Trump has 98 electoral votes to Biden’s 131.
9:58 p.m. – Republican Lindsey Graham wins reelection to U.S. Senate from South Carolina
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Lindsey Graham wins reelection to U.S. Senate from South Carolina.
9:43 p.m. – Democrat Hickenlooper wins Colorado Senate race
DENVER — Democrat John Hickenlooper defeated Republican Sen. Cory Gardner in one of the closest-watched Senate races in the nation, the Associated Press reports.
Gardner was widely seen as one of the most vulnerable Republicans because Colorado had shifted strongly to the left since his election to the Senate in 2014. Hickenlooper is a popular former two-term governor who relentlessly tied Gardner to President Donald Trump during the race.
Democrats have won every statewide race since Gardner’s election, with the exception of a board of regents position in 2016.
9:37 p.m. – Joe Biden wins Colorado
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden wins Colorado and its nine electoral votes, giving the Democratic challenger 131 electoral votes so far to President Donald Trump’s 92.
The state, which went for Democrat Hillary Clinton four years ago, has trended sharply to the left since President Donald Trump’s 2016 election.
The state also has a competitive Senate race between Republican incumbent Cory Gardner and the state’s former governor John Hickenlooper. Gardner is considered one of the nation’s most vulnerable senators.
9:27 p.m. – Joe Biden wins the District of Columbia
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden wins the District of Columbia and its three electoral votes. That gives Biden 122 electoral votes so far to Trump’s 92.
9 p.m. – AP calls 8 more states in presidential race
The Associated Press calls Nebraska, Louisiana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and North Dakota for Trump; Connecticut, New Mexico and New York are called for Biden.
Biden leads with 119 electoral votes to to Trump’s 92.
Nebraska’s electoral votes will split; 1 goes to Biden, 4 go to Trump.
8:54 p.m. – Donald Trump wins Indiana
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Indiana and its 11 electoral votes. Biden currently leads with 85 electoral votes to Trump’s 72.
8:30 p.m. – Donald Trump wins Arkansas
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Arkansas and the state’s 6 electoral votes. As of this call, Biden has 85 electoral votes; Trump has 61.
8:02 p.m. – Democrat Cory Booker wins reelection to U.S. Senate from New Jersey
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Cory Booker wins reelection to U.S. Senate from New Jersey.
8:02 p.m. – Democrat Christopher Coons wins reelection to U.S. Senate from Delaware
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Christopher Coons wins reelection to U.S. Senate from Delaware.
8:02 p.m. – Republican Bill Hagerty wins election to U.S. Senate from Tennessee
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Bill Hagerty wins election to U.S. Senate from Tennessee.
8:02 p.m. – Republican Bill Johnson wins reelection to U.S. House in Ohio’s 6th Congressional District
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Bill Johnson wins reelection to U.S. House in Ohio’s 6th Congressional District.
8 p.m. – Democrat Richard Durbin wins reelection to U.S. Senate from Illinois
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Richard Durbin wins reelection to U.S. Senate from Illinois.
8 p.m. – Republican Jim Inhofe wins reelection to U.S. Senate from Oklahoma
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Jim Inhofe wins reelection to U.S. Senate from Oklahoma.
8 p.m. – AP calls 11 states in presidential race
Donald Trump wins Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Oklahoma; Biden wins Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island.
7:56 p.m. – Donald Trump wins South Carolina
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins South Carolina.
7:36 p.m. – Joe Biden wins Virginia
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden wins Virginia. He was awarded its 13 electoral votes on Tuesday. AP explains the call as such:
The AP declared Democratic nominee Joe Biden the winner of Virginia at 7:31 p.m. EST, after results from early returns and an AP survey of the electorate showed the former vice president had beaten President Donald Trump in the state.
While only about 10% of the vote had been counted statewide, completed counts in a representative selection of precincts in communities across Virginia showed Biden comfortably ahead of Trump.
Those results matched data from AP VoteCast and an analysis of early voting statistics. The survey found Biden with a substantial lead in the state. VoteCast, the AP’s wide-ranging survey of the American electorate, captures voters’ choices and why they made them.
Trump jumped out to an early lead in Virginia because many Republican counties reported their results first. But much of the remaining ballots left to be counted were cast in population-dense Democratic areas near Washington D.C., including Fairfax and Prince William counties.
Virginia was once solidly Republican, with President George W. Bush winning there as recently as 2004. But explosive growth in northern Virginia’s Washington, D.C., suburbs has led to an influx of increasingly diverse and Democratic-leaning voters who have helped tip the balance of power.
Democrat Hillary Clinton won Virginia by more than 5 points in 2016. The state has a Democratic governor. And in 2019, Democrats took control of both chambers of the Legislature for the first time in decades.
7:30 p.m. – West Virginia called for President Trump
(AP) — Donald Trump wins West Virginia.
7:12 p.m. – Republican Holcomb wins reelection as Indiana governor
-by The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Republicans won continued control of the Indiana governor’s office as voters cast the final ballots Tuesday, Gov. Eric Holcomb won reelection.
Holcomb won a second four-year term as governor.
7:12 p.m. – Republican US Rep. Comer wins 3rd term in western Kentucky
-by The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Republican U.S. Rep. James Comer, of Bowling Green, has defeated Democrat James Rhodes to win another term in his western Kentucky district.
Comer, who was recently selected to serve as the top-ranking Republican on a key investigative committee in Congress, will begin his third term in January in the state’s 1st District. He is a former state agriculture commissioner.
7:00 p.m. – President Donald Trump takes Kentucky, and Democrat Joe Biden wins Vermont
-by Elizabeth Chmurak
The Associated Press has called Kentucky for President Donald Trump, and Vermont for Democrat Joe Biden.
They are the first two states called in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump wins eight electoral votes from Kentucky, while Biden takes three for winning Vermont.
6:30 p.m. – North Carolina man with firearm arrested at polling site
-by Elizabeth Chmurak
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — A man carrying a firearm at a polling site in North Carolina on Election Day has been arrested and charged with trespassing.
Thirty-six-year-old Justin Dunn was legally carrying a gun but loitering at the Charlotte polling site after voting Tuesday morning, which prompted a precinct official to call police over fears of voter intimidation. A precinct official accompanied by a police officer asked him to leave the site and banned him from the location.
Police say Dunn left the precinct but returned about two hours later. He was taken into custody and charged with second-degree trespassing.
6:00 p.m. – First polls set to close in Kentucky and Indiana
-by Elizabeth Chmurak
The first polls are closing. A majority of the state of Kentucky is in the eastern time zone and polls in that part of the state close at 6 p.m. EST; 41 counties in Kentucky are in the central time zone and close at 7 p.m. EST. In Indiana, all counties will close polls at 6 p.m. local time; a majority of the state is in eastern time, though 12 counties are in central time.
Stay with NewsNation as we start to report election results
Read about more Election Day highlights here.
How NewsNation will report election results
NewsNation’s television broadcast and digital properties will rely on The Associated Press for all vote counting and race calls. NewsNation chose to rely on the AP because they call races based on the facts.
“AP does not make projections or name apparent or likely winners,” said David Scott, a deputy managing editor who helps oversee AP’s coverage of elections. “If AP cannot definitively say a candidate has won, we don’t speculate.”
According to the AP, a race is only called when they “conclude that the trailing candidate will not catch the leader.” In fact, AP did not call the closely contested race in 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore, standing by its assessment that the margin in Florida made it too close to call. You can read more information about how AP calls races here.
We may not know who won the presidential election on Tuesday night. The biggest factor that may slow things down this year is the millions of Americans who voted by mail rather than risk being in a crowd during the coronavirus pandemic. In general, mail ballots take longer to count.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report