Live Updates: Trump emerges victorious in 2024 presidential election
Harris falters in pivotal states as Republicans gain majority control of the Senate
Note from the executive committee: This is a live page and will be continuously updated as new developments concerning the 2024 presidential election are reported. The Tech will also continue to publish statements and perspectives sourced from across the MIT community. All times listed are in EST.
A snapshot of this page, which cut on the first published update on Thursday, Nov. 7 (12:00 AM), was published in print that day as part of this week's issue (Vol. 144, No. 18).
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8
11:15 AM: The New York Times reports that internationally-based companies and businesses, en masse, have begun major preparations to endure the sweeping tariffs and protectionist policies Trump has promised to impose in his second term. Various businesses are preparing to stock up on goods before January, and others have already begun plans to move international production lines into the U.S. and generally outside of China, the place likely to be hit hardest by tariffs. Overall, Trump's historic win has already begun to cause cascading effects on global supply markets, mere days after Election Day.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9
12:15 AM: President-elect Trump won Nevada, gaining another six electoral wins and bringing the Electoral College count to 226-301. Only Arizona and its 11 electoral votes, which Trump has a lead in, remains to be called for the presidential race. Trump's win in Nevada flips the state back to Republican control since 2004.
Incumbent Democratic senator Jacky Rosen won back his senatorial seat from Nevada, bringing Democrats to 46 seats (including the two independent senators that caucus with the party) against Republicans' 53. Rosen won with 47.8% of the vote (675,318 voters) against primary challenger Republican Sam Brown's 46.4% (654,747).
One senate seat is yet to be called.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7
6:06 PM: President-elect Trump names Susie Wiles, his lead campaign advisor, as his White House chief of staff. She is to be the first woman holding the position.
2:30 PM: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, in a briefing to reporters, laid out Biden's agenda for the final two-and-a-half months of his term. The current agenda includes confirmations of judicial nominees, continued hurrican disaster relief, and passing government spending bills.
Jean-Pierre also fielded questions from reporters on Biden's late decision to drop out of the race, which she asserts is a decision he continues to stand by; what is to blame for Harris's strikingly decisive loss, which she attributes to reverberations from pandemic-era global supply chain issues, echoing similar statements made previously by high-profile Democrats like former president Barack Obama; and on the surrendered attitude President Biden displayed, which was significantly muted from the much more combative nature he had displayed over the past months, during his public address earlier today. The press briefing began 1:30 PM EST.
2:05 PM: News media outlets have called the Maine senatorial race for senator incumbent Angus King Jr., who is an independent, bringing the remaining uncalled senatorial races down to three (Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania). King won with 51.8% of the popular vote (413,933 voters), winning against Republican Demi Kouzounas (34.4% of the vote) and Democrat David Allen Costello (10.6%). Many see this as a win for Democrats, as King frequently caucuses with the Democratic Party.
Eight more House seats were called overnight, bringing Democrats to 195 seats (+4 seats since 12:00 AM today) and Republicans to 209 (+3 since 12:00 AM), with 31 seats yet to be called.
2:04 PM: The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter point, their second reduction of the year; officials say this is a sign of a clear path to controlled inflation in the months ahead. In their meeting, the Fed avoided mentions of the election nor any declarative statements on their responses to the coming Trump administration, but its two primary goals—keeping inflation stable and strengthening the labor market—may come into conflict with Trump's own goals should he follow through with sweeping promises on protectionism and anti-immigration. The Fed, which operates independently of the executive branch, has also avoided making statements on how they may settle with Trump on maintaining operational independence given his overt plans on consolidating federal power throughout his term.
12:59 PM: President-incumbent Joe Biden gave his first public address since Trump's presidential win today, which was televised live from the White House. He appeared to concede the election without protest, assuring voters of the integrity of the American system and to accept this year's result, significantly muting the kind of anti-Trump rhetoric that inflamed his final weeks seeking reelection. Months ago, Biden had repeatedly described Trump as an "existential threat to democracy."
Biden also promised a peaceful transfer of power to the president-elect, which may yield a strong but hopeful contrast from the chaotic scenes that came about in Biden's own ascent to the presidency almost four years ago.
12:49 PM: A somber attitude pervaded a virtual caucus call among House Democrats today, as party officials come to terms with their loss in the presidency and the Senate, as well as in the projections for final House results that are not to the party's favor. Still, party leaders urge patience as the remain hopeful for a Democratic surge to ultimately win the House.
8:13 AM: CNN reports that Trump's focus for Day One of his presidency is to rapidly overhaul existing border policies back into his original vision from eight years ago, with sources claiming that the president-elect intends to make good with his immigration promises in plans of detainment and deportation.
12:00 AM: Recapping a historic day: Former President Donald J. Trump is elected the President following convincing victories in the swing states of Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Arizona and Nevada remain the final states to be called: Trump holds leads in both states. Trump claimed 50.9% of the popular vote to Vice President and Democrat Candidate Kamala Harris’s 47.6%. Harris made her concession speech yesterday afternoon, saying “while I concede this election… I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.”
The Republican Party has regained control of the Senate with 52 seats at the time of writing to the Democrats’ 44 seats. Four races have yet to be called. In the House of Representatives, the Republicans stand with 206 seats to the 191 belonging to the Democrats. The threshold for a majority is 218 seats. 38 races have yet to be called.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6
10:10 PM: The Associated Press estimates that over 200,000 ballots in Nevada still need to be counted: the election will not be called for at least another day. Trump currently leads Harris 51.5% to 46.7%.
9:40 PM: The Associated Press estimates that over 700,000 ballots in Arizona still need to be counted: the election will not be called for at least another day. Trump currently leads Harris 52.1% to 46.9%.
9:00 PM: As of this time, two states are left uncalled for the presidential ticket: Nevada and Arizona, both of which are still in the midst of counting ballots with 88% and 69% of votes in, respectively. Both states are too close to call as of now, but are currently being led by Trump (both by five points).
98 of the 100 Senate seats have also been called, with 52 under Republican control (with three of those seats flipped from the Democrats), 43 under Democratic control, and one seat handed to an independent. (Many news outlets report the Democrats holding 44 seats as Bernie Sanders, the unaffiliated senior senator from Vermont, maintains close relationships with the Democratic party.) Four states (Arizona, Maine, Nevada, and Pennsylvania) remain up-for-grabs. But regardless of the outcome of those four states, the Republican Party now has majority control of the Senate, wresting the majority from the Democrats.
In the lower chamber, 39 seats have yet to be called, according to the Associated Press; 190 seats are under Democratic control with 206 handed to Republicans. Both parties require 218 seats to win the majority of the House. Republicans, with a lead of 16 against the Democrats, are better positioned to win the House and keep their control of the chamber. But news outlets report that, with many of the ongoing races remaining too tight to make accurate projections, it may take days to get final results.
6:13 PM: In a statement posted on X, President Joe Biden broke his silence on this year's presidential election, writing in support of Harris in light of her striking loss in her bid for presidency.
An hour earlier, former president Barack Obama issued his own statement on X to congratulate president-elect Trump and vice president-elect Vance on their win, adding that Harris's loss has followed suit from incumbent losses worldwide in the wake of global mass inflation and pandemic-era challenges.
5:50 PM: Four states had marijuana on their state tickets this year. Voters in Nebraska passed a measure that would allow for the use of medical marijuana and the establishment of a regulatory commission for the drug, while voters in three other states (Florida, North Dakota, and South Dakota) voted against their respective proposals to legalize recreational marijuana.
4:27 PM: The New York Times reports worldwide shifts in global stock markets in the wake of Trump's presidential win, with American stocks and government bond yields, cryptocurrencies, and the U.S. dollar's value surging in the past day; world indexes have dipped in the same period, as global investors react to Trump's win. In his second presidency, Trump has promised major levels of financial isolationism, proposing major tariffs on imported goods alongside his well-known hard-line stance on immigration and its role in the American workforce. Analysts say that, while market shifts are common in the days following presidential elections, this year's disturbances are looking to be stronger than normal.
4:26 PM: Harris delivers a concession speech at Howard University, her alma mater, after privately calling Trump to concede to his win. Incumbent president Joe Biden also called both candidates earlier in the day.
3:42 PM: Voters in seven states (Maryland, Missouri, Arizona, Colorado, New York, Montana, and Nevada) passed ballot measures to protect abortion rights, out of a total of ten states that had abortion rights on the ticket this year. The measures also lifted the current abortion ban in Missouri and cut down the existing restrictions in Arizona. The measures failed in three states (Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota), where abortion bans will remain in place.
3:30 PM: Dept. of Justice special counsel Jack Smith is to shut down the two active cases he oversees against president-elect Donald Trump, as per a department policy that bars prosecution of sitting presidents. There are currently two cases against Trump: one on charges of conspiracy to obstruct the results of the 2020 presidential election (which is based in Washington), and a second on charges of mishandling classified documents that he had kept in his home in Mar-a-Lago and obstructing efforts to retrieve them.
11:46 AM: National election security officials assured voters across the country that this year's elections remain secure. This comes in the wake of mass fears of major election interference leading up to the elections, concerns that proved unfounded on Election Day as limited attempts to tamper with the elections (including ballot-box burning, the flooding of social media with conspiracy theories from both American and foreign sources, etc.) ultimately did not incite an expected wave of interference en masse.
5:34 AM: The Associated Press declared former President Donald Trump the winner of the 2024 Presidential election, following his winning of the state of Wisconsin. Trump took the critical battleground states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia with average margins of victory over Democrat candidate Kamala Harris of nearly two percent. He leads Michigan by 1.6% with 97% of votes counted, according to the Associated Press.
The Republicans also took control of the Senate, with Ohio incumbent Sherrod Brown losing to Bernie Moreno, a Republican. Jim Justice, the governor of West Virginia, handily won the spot that opened following the retirement of Senator Joe Manchin. In Montana, Democrat Senator Jon Tester lost to Tim Sheehy and in Nebraska, incumbent Republican Deb Fischer fended off a challenge from Dan Osborn, an independent.
Senate and House seats continue to be in play as race calls will slowly trickle in throughout the day.
2:41 AM: Minutes after winning Pennsylvania, Trump addressed supporters at his watch party in Palm Beach and claimed victory of the presidency, as well as the popular vote. The race has not yet been called by major news outlets, but he is predicted to secure the win.
2:25 AM: Trump has won Pennsylvania, securing 19 electoral votes and delivering a major blow to Harris's campaign. The state was widely seen as the key to the presidency, and previously leaned Republican but was flipped by President Joe Biden in the 2020 elections. Trump won with 50.5% of the popular vote in the state, clinching support from 3,457,784 voters.
12:22 AM: The Republican Party has taken majority control of the U.S. Senate, flipping the Democratic Party's previous 51-49 control of the upper chamber of Congress. The party was favored to take control even before polling, as Republican challengers pushed against seven Democratic seats in swing and conservative states; the Republican party had only needed to win two states if Harris wins the presidency, or just one if Trump wins it. (The vice president serves as a tie-breaker in the event of a deadlock in the chamber.)
12:00 AM: As of this time, former President Donald J. Trump of the Republican Party leads current Vice President Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party 230 to 205 in the electoral college, with the threshold of victory being 270. The Associated Press declared Trump victorious in North Carolina, and he holds leads in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
Republicans also picked up key victories in Senate races, and are now poised to take control. Jim Justice of West Virginia was declared the winner in a seat formerly occupied by independent Senator Joe Manchin, formerly a Democrat.
The final polls have closed in Alaska and Hawaii.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5
11:42 PM: Per the Associated Press, Harris wins Virginia (13).
11:33 PM: Harris wins New Mexico (5). Missouri, the first state to make abortion illegal after the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court, approved a measure to protect abortion in its Constitution.
11:23 PM: Harris wins Oregon (8).
11:18 PM: Per the Associated Press, Trump wins North Carolina, a critical battleground state with sixteen electoral votes. Trump also won the state in 2016 and 2020.
11:00 PM: Harris wins California (54) and Washington (12). Trump wins Idaho (4).
10:45 PM: Harris wins one electoral vote in Maine.
10:40 PM: Per the Associated Press, Trump wins Kansas (6) and Iowa (6).
10:36 PM: Colorado approves a state constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights.
10:20 PM: Per the Associated Press, Harris wins the District of Columbia (3).
10:08 PM: Harris wins Colorado with 10 electoral votes.
10:00 PM: Trump wins Montana (4) and Utah (6). Polls closed in Montana, Nevada, and Utah.
9:49 PM: Per the Associated Press, Trump wins Missouri with 10 electoral votes.
9:47 PM: In North Carolina, the Associated Press reports that Harris trails Trump by 4 percent with more than half of the expected votes counted.
9:38 PM: New York approves a state constitutional amendment to protect the civil rights of those seeking or have had abortions.
9:25 PM: Per the Associated Press, Trump wins another electoral vote in Nebraska.
9:19 PM: State senator Sarah McBride wins Delaware's only House seat, which makes her the first openly transgender individual elected to Congress.
9:15 PM: Republican North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson loses his race. A CNN investigation earlier this year uncovered racist and explicit messages on a porngraphy site purportedly posted by Robinson. The race was among the most closely watched this year.
9:12 PM: Per the Associated Press, Trump wins Texas. Florida rejected the abortion measure on the ballot: it had a steep 60% threshold to pass. Florida currently has a six-week abortion ban.
9:08 PM: Trump wins Ohio (17).
9:00 PM: Per the Associated Press, Trump wins two electoral votes in Nebraska and the statewide vote. He also won North Dakota (3), South Dakota (3), Louisiana (8), and Wyoming (3). Harris wins New York (28).
Polls have closed in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
8:38 PM: Harris wins Illionis with 19 electoral votes.
8:34 PM: Harris wins Delaware with 3 electoral votes.
8:30 PM: The Associated Press calls Arkansas for Trump with 6 electoral votes. Harris won New Jersey with 14 electoral votes. Polling has closed in Arkansas.
8:10 PM: Within minutes after all ballots across Massachusetts have been cast, the Bay State has brought its 11 Electoral College votes to Vice President Kamala Harris. Even before polling began, Harris was expected to win the state, a Democratic stronghold.
8:00 PM: Trump wins Mississippi (6 electoral votes) and Alabama (9), which hasn’t seen a Democrat victory since Jimmy Carter nearly half a century ago. Trump also won Oklahoma (7), Tennessee (11), Florida (30), and South Carolina (9). Harris won Maryland (10), Connecticut (7), Massachusetts (11), and Rhode Island (4).
Polling stations across Massachusetts have all closed. Polls have closed in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Washington D.C.
7:30 PM: The Associated Press calls West Virginia for Trump with 4 electoral votes. Republicans have won the state from every election dating back to 2000. Polls in North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia have closed.
7:00 PM: Trump wins Kentucky with 8 electoral votes. Republicans have won the state from every election dating back to 2000.
7:00 PM: Harris wins Vermont with 3 electoral votes. Notably, the state's Republican governor, Phil Scott, is a vocal Trump critic and voted for President Biden previously in 2020.
Trump wins Indiana with 11 electoral votes. He previously won the conservative state with 57% of the vote in 2020, and won it back in 2016.
Polls in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia have closed.
6:45 PM: Pennsylvania officials vehemently deny Trump’s claim of cheating in Philadelphia. On his social media platform, Trump said there was “talk about massive cheating in Philadelphia” without evidence. The Department of State of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said that “Pennsylvania counties, including Philadelphia, are running a safe and secure election.”
6:15 PM: Several polling locations in Georgia’s Fulton County had voting hours extended following bomb threats that were deemed null.
4:00 PM: Vice President and Democratic candidate for president Kamala Harris visits Democratic National Committee phone bank in Washington D.C. Harris said to workers at the phone bank, “This truly represents the best of who we are.”
1:50 PM: U.S. Capitol Police report that a man was arrested at the US Capitol while trying to enter with a torch and flare gun. The arrest occurred during a screening at the Capitol Visitor Center.
11:52 AM: Former President and Republican candidate for President Donald J. Trump and his wife Melania Trump cast their votes in Palm Beach, Florida. Speaking about his campaign, Trump said, “It seems that the conservatives are voting very powerfully.” When asked about regrets he had on the campaign trail, Trump said, “I can’t think of any.”
11:50 AM: President Biden has no public appearances scheduled for Election Day: his press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will not be holding her usual daily briefing.
10:22 AM: Flooding in Missouri has disrupted election day proceedings. It has since been reported that two poll workers were killed, with at least five dead overall.
9:24 AM: JD Vance, a Senator (R-Ohio) and the Republican vice presidential candidate, voted in Cincinnati.
8:11 AM: Attorney generals from 47 states and three U.S. territories released a statement urging peace and preemptively “condemn any acts of violence related to the results.” The exceptions were Indiana, Montana, and Texas. They wrote, “We call upon every American to vote, participate in civil discourse and, above all, respect the integrity of the democratic process.”
7:00 AM: Polling stations across Massachusetts have all officially opened for voting.
6:10 AM: Dixville Notch, a tiny New Hampshire resort town has a split 3-3 presidential vote on the first Election Day Vote. The town has had the tradition of being the first in the nation to finish in-person voting. The town has six voters and the vote count was completed in fifteen minutes.
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A primer on the election
As the ballots continue to be counted, The Tech has sought the perspective of graduate students within MIT’s Political science department.
On Nov. 4, in a written statement to The Tech, Joe Loffredo, a graduate student affiliated with the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, said: “Four years ago, the US held an election during a global pandemic, yet miraculously, this country saw record turnout. In the aftermath of the 2020 election, however, levels of voter confidence in the electoral process diverged between Democrats and Republicans. In response to claims of a 'rigged election,' officials and policymakers nationwide have spent the past four years working to increase transparency, refine procedures, and counter misinformation. Tomorrow, their efforts face a critical test.”
On his role as an academic researcher during the election, Loffredo stated that he will be focused on two themes central to election integrity. He said: “First, what sorts of rumors gain steam and how do election officials respond to them? Second, Donald Trump was the first losing presidential candidate to not deliver a concession speech in 2020. There are suggestions that Trump will declare himself the winner, even before the outcome of the election is made clear. How do the media and the American people respond to this? How does such an action shape America’s conversation about the performance of election administration in this election?”
Ultimately, Loffredo called for faith in the electoral process: “We should afford election officials the space necessary to do that critically important work that sustains American democracy.”
In his written statement to The Tech, Preston Johnston, a graduate student studying political economy and climate politics, said “this election could have dramatic implications for the global landscape of climate policy.”
Johnston wrote that “The Biden Administration has pursued a ‘green industrial policy’ approach to decarbonization, which has helped lower expected US emissions and resulted in significant domestic manufacturing investment. The previous Trump administration withdrew from the 2015 Paris Agreement and has similarly indicated a desire to overturn key elements of the green industrial policy agenda. However, given that many red states have benefitted from new manufacturing investment and job creation, it may prove politically difficult to roll back the Biden Administration's climate policies.”
With regards to the outcome of the election, Johnston said that “If Harris wins the election, I will be interested in seeing whether more political capital is deployed for additional climate policies, especially on the regulatory side. If Trump wins, I will watch closely whether Congress goes along with his intent to roll back the Biden policies.”