Today's Edition
PHILADELPHIA, Nov 6 (REUTERS)
Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in the battleground state of North Carolina in Tuesday's U.S. presidential election, Edison Research projected, moving him one step closer to completing an improbable political comeback.
The outcome remained uncertain in six other states expected to determine the winner.
But Trump was showing strength across broad swaths of the country. He had won 227 Electoral College votes to Harris' 165 as of 11:30 p.m. ET (0430 GMT on Wednesday). A candidate needs a total of at least 270 votes in the state-by-state Electoral College to claim the presidency.
Decision Desk HQ projected Trump would also win Georgia, narrowing her path to victory through the Rust Belt trio of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, though she was behind in all three states.
Trump picked up more 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% of Hispanic voters nationwide, trailing Harris with 53% 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% of voters said the economy was their top issue, and they voted for Trump by a 79%-to-20% margin, according to exit polls. Some 45% of voters across the country said their family's financial situation was worse off today than four years ago, and they favoured Trump 80% to 17% for Harris.
U.S. stock futures and the dollar pushed higher while Treasury yields climbed and bitcoin rose, a sign that investors were reading early results as favouring Trump. Still, investors said it was too early and the trades lacked conviction.
"Everyone's trying to take the few inches of data we've got right now and turn it into a mile," said Alex Morris, president and CIO of F/M Investments in Washington.
