Stocks Surge on News of Trump Win
Former President Donald Trump will be headed to the White House again in January after notching a landslide victory against Vice President Kamala Harris on Election Day. Here is the latest on the presidential election.
Donald Trump and Republicans Win Big
Donald Trump will be the 47th president of the United States after winning big on Tuesday. The race was called by most media outlets early Wednesday morning. It has been four years since Trump left the Oval Office after his attempt to try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Since that time, the former president has survived two assassination attempts and numerous criminal convictions. Trump spoke at his campaign headquarters at his Mar-a-Lago resort after midnight, vowing to "heal" the country, deliver a prosperous economy, and fix its borders.
As of midday Wednesday, the race had not been called in the battleground states of Nevada or Arizona. Results were still too close to call in Maine and Alaska well into the middle of the day.
Trump rode to victory by sweeping the blue wall states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. He also picked up the key battleground states of North Carolina and Georgia. Most media outlets called the race when it became clear that Trump would win Wisconsin, putting him over the necessary 270 electoral votes threshold.
While all of the votes have not been counted, it looks as if Trump will win the popular vote as well. Trump lost the popular vote when he defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016, making this the first time that he has captured the majority of the electorate in the U.S.
It became apparent early in the evening that Trump was performing better than expected. Reliably blue states such as Virginia were closer than had been anticipated. Meanwhile, the former president was running up the tallies in the predictably red states.
Trump was able to swing some of the female vote his way. Harris did not exceed the female vote tallied by either President Joe Biden or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Latino voters also swung to Trump, helping him to run up the vote in places such as Florida.
Trump's campaign is expected to tap Brian Hook as the head of the transition team. The former State Department official during Trump's first term also served as senior adviser to the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (UN) when George W. Bush was president.
Republicans Will Take Control of the Senate, House Still in Doubt
Republicans will also take control of the Senate, shifting the balance of power on Capitol Hill. The bloodbath began early on election night as West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice picked up the vacant Senate seat left by the retiring independent Sen. Joe Manchin. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown lost his seat in Ohio after serving for three terms. Republican entrepreneur Bernie Moreno, a staunch Trump supporter, will take over Brown's seat in the chamber.
The Democrats retained control of their seat in Wisconsin by a slim margin when incumbent Tammy Baldwin won her reelection bid. Baldwin edged out Republican Eric Hovde in a tight race. The Democratic Party also kept the hotly contested seat in Michigan when Rep. Elissa Slotkin beat former Rep. Mike Rogers. Slotkin is now distinguished as the youngest Democratic woman to be elected as a U.S. senator.
The question now is what Republican will take the coveted seat of Senate majority leader, currently held by New York Sen. Chuck Schumer on the Democratic side of the aisle. This election will take place next week via secret ballot and behind closed doors. The early leaders for the seat are Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, and Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.
The results in the House of Representatives are not as clear at this time. It could be days for these votes to be counted and to determine if the GOP will need to cede control to the Democrats.
Harris Addresses Supporters and Concedes Race
Harris officially conceded the election on Wednesday, calling President-elect Trump to congratulate him on the victory. An aide to Harris said that she discussed the importance of working for all Americans and for a peaceful transfer of power.
The vice president delivered a speech to supporters on Wednesday afternoon at Howard University, her alma mater. During the address, Harris thanked all of those who worked on the campaign. She also specifically addressed the youth of America, telling them that it is okay to be sad and disappointed but that now is also the time to roll up their sleeves and get to work.
A White House official also confirmed that President Biden spoke with President-elect Trump Wednesday, inviting him to the White House. Biden is planning to deliver an address to the nation on Thursday.
What Happens with Trump's Ongoing Criminal Cases?
It is being reported on Wednesday that special counsel Jack Smith is in active discussions with the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) about the next steps forward. The discussions are expected to take days to complete, eventually ending the federal prosecutions levied against Trump.
Officials with the DOJ are discussing how to bring the two criminal cases currently against Trump to a close as he transitions back to power. The two cases involve the former president's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election as well as his mishandling of classified documents.
Stocks Surge on News of Trump Win
The U.S. stock market closed in record territory on the news of Trump's decisive win. The rally got started during the premarket trading and held on throughout the day Wednesday. The Dow finished the day up 1,507 points for a gain of 3.57%. This is a new record high for the Dow and the first time since November 2022 that the blue-chip index has increased by over 1,000 points.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also soared to new highs, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq finishing the day up 2.95% and the S&P inching up by 2.5%. The surge in all of the indexes was credited to the fact that the election results were in quickly when compared to 2020.
Markets had also been jittery in recent weeks as investors worried that Trump could contest the results of the election in the courts, creating uncertainty for the economy.
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