Donald Trump declares ‘magnificent victory’ in speech to jubilant supporters

Donald Trump has won the critical swing state of North Carolina and its 16 Electoral College votes in a pivotal moment in the election.

The Tar Heel state was a key target for both campaigns and was the scene of frenzied campaigning, with Trump making stops there in each of the last three days of the race.

In a major boost to the Republican, it was the first of the seven swing states, that will ultimately determine the winner, to be decided.

Harris’ campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon told staff in a memo that, after losing North Carolina, the ‘blue wall’ northern industrial states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were now the Democrat’s ‘clearest path’ to victory.

She suggested the race was ‘not going to come into focus until the early morning hours.’

A Democrat presidential candidate has not claimed victory in North Carolina since Barack Obama in 2008. Trump has now won it in three straight elections.

More than 4.2 million North Carolinians voted early before Election Day, breaking the record turnout in 2020.

Turnout in some western counties hit by Hurricane Helene outpaced the rest of the state as election officials made sure victims could cast their ballots.

Trump’s victory came despite an exit poll showing only 43 percent of voters in North Carolina had a favourable view of him, while 48 said that of Harris.

It found 36 percent of voters in North Carolina said the economy mattered most in deciding how to vote in the presidential election.

Meanwhile, 32 percent said the state of democracy, 13 percent abortion, 12 percent immigration, and 4 percent foreign policy.

Some 47 percent of North Carolina voters said their family’s financial situation was worse than it was four years ago.

The exit poll found 69 percent of North Carolina voters were white, up four points from 2020. The percentage of white men was up five points.

Trump, 78, was seeking to become the oldest person ever elected president.

He would also be the first defeated president in 132 years to win another term in the White House, and the first person convicted of a felony to take over the Oval Office.

Harris, 60, would be the first woman, black woman, and person of South Asian descent to serve as president.

She would also be the first sitting vice president to win the White House in 36 years.

With North Carolina decided all eyes turned to the other six swing states.

Trump was showing strength across broad swaths of the country.

By 11.30pm Eastern Time he had won 227 Electoral College votes to Harris’ 165.

A candidate needs a total of at least 270 votes in the state-by-state Electoral College to claim the presidency.

Trump picked up support from Hispanics, traditionally Democratic voters, and among lower-income households that have keenly felt the sting of price rises since the last presidential election in 2020, according to exit polls from Edison.

Trump won 45 percent of Hispanic voters nationwide, trailing Harris with 53 percent, but up 13 percentage points from 2020.

Voters whose top issue was the economy voted overwhelmingly for Trump, especially if they felt they were worse off financially than they were four years ago.

About 31 percent of voters said the economy was their top issue.

And 45 percent of voters across the country said their family’s financial situation was worse today than four years ago.

Trump was earning a bigger share of the vote than he did four years ago in nearly every corner of the country, from suburban Georgia to rural Pennsylvania.

By 11pm officials had nearly completed their count of ballots in more than 1,200 counties, about a third of the country, and Trump’s share was up about 2 percentage points compared to 2020.