After losing the state to Joe Biden in 2020, former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party candidate, is likely to win Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes, according to the Associated Press. who called the race at 2:24 on Wednesday.
It was a close race with both candidates campaigning relentlessly in Pennsylvania. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, topped the ticket after President Joe Biden dropped out of his re-election bid in July after a disastrous debate performance against Trump. If elected, Harris would be the first black and Asian-American president.
State officials did not expect there would be a clear winner in Pennsylvania on Election Day, largely because of how mail-in ballots were counted. Election workers cannot begin collecting absentee ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day itself, and in a vast city like Philadelphia, the process takes longer.
Neither candidate had a path to victory without Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania was one of three “blue wall” states that Barack Obama carried during both presidential campaigns, but which Donald Trump won in 2016, defeating Hillary Clinton by nearly 45,000 votes. Joe Biden won the state in 2020 by about 80,000 votes.
Trump launched his 2024 campaign early, seemingly poised for an effortless victory over President Joe Biden, whose campaign approval has been low throughout the year, in vast part because of persistent inflation that has kept prices generally high for many Americans.
Trump survived two assassination attempts in 2024, including one in Butler in July that killed rallygoer Corey Comperatore. Trump recovered from the incident, and the photo of him with a raised fist and a bloody ear became an indelible image not only of his campaign but also of the 2024 race.
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