US election results: Donald Trump claims victory
IN one of the most extraordinary political outcomes in US history, Donald Trump has claimed an upset victory in the race for the White House.
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DONALD Trump is poised to become America’s president in a dramatic upset that could result in mass world upheaval.
In one of the most extraordinary political outcomes in US history, the reality TV star and billionaire ran the table across the country, ousting Democrats in their own working class territory.
He not only rallied the powerful white blue collar vote in way no Republican has managed since Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, but he appeared to snatch volatile key battleground states improving the party’s minority vote.
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The strength of his vote marked a wholesale rejection of continuity and the political order on which America and the world is built.
It was a deft control of the political map that looked set to choke Ms Clinton’s many paths to the White House.
With 84 per cent of the vote counted nationally last night, Mr Trump led Ms Clinton by one per cent in the popular vote but appeared to have locked up the electoral map.
At 6pm, he had 247 votes in the electoral college to Ms Clinton’s 215 out of a necessary 270 to win.
In the final days of the campaign, Mr Trump had repeatedly claimed a silent majority would carry him to the White House and that’s what looked to be happening.
In an extraordinary reach that seemed to cut across the country, he appealed in the white midwest — places that were hurt hard by the GFC with hobbled manufacturing industries — just as he appealed to retirees and minorities in Florida and North Carolina.
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He then capped off the night with a huge 20 electoral votes in the battleground state of Pennsylvania — the very place where Ms Clinton held her star studded rally with the Obamas and Bruce Springsteen only 24 hours earlier.
While polls showed Ms Clinton with a three point national lead and an edge in key battlegrounds, Mr Trump trounced her in spots she didn’t see coming.
He swept through the swing states of Florida, Iowa, North Carolina and Ohio, blocking Hillary Clinton’s path to the crucial 270 electoral college votes.
The result was called by AP shortly after 6.30pm AEDT.
It was a victory in one of the most bitter, divisive elections in US history.
Mr Trump staked his campaign on an anti-establishment narrative — he was the non politician who would “drain the swamp” in Washington DC and be the voice of the silent majority, he repeatedly told America.
Punctuated by scandals on both sides, Mr Trump overcame allegations of sexual assault and leaked audio that showed him talking about women in the vilest terms to still clinch victory.
Early exit polling indicated a gloomy mood among voters who were fed up with government and uninspired by the candidates.
About 60 per cent of voters polled in exit polling believed the country was on the wrong track. When President Obama swept to power in 2012, the number was 50 per cent.\\
And in a result that explained the surge of voters behind Mr Trump’s antiestablishment sentiment, about two in three voters were unhappy with the workings of government.
On trustworthiness, both suffered — just 40 per cent trusted Ms Clinton and less trusted Mr Trump.
This sentiment of despondent voters was repeated across the country.
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The Texas Tribune reported that former President George W Bush and his wife Laura did not cast a ballot for either Ms Clinton or Mr Trump.
Earlier in the day, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit in Nevada saying poll workers had illegally lengthened voting hours on Friday. The campaign wanted ballots seized, but a judge shot the lawsuit down.
Both Ms Clinton and Mr Trump cast their vote in the morning.
Ms Clinton voted near her home of Chappaqua, NY, describing it as a “humbling feeling”.
Mr Trump was laughed at by local New Yorkers in Manhattan — a city that leans heavily Democrat — and jeered with claims of “you’re gonna lose”.
Shortly after 6.30pm AEDT, AP announced that the Republican candidate would win the 270 minimum electoral college votes needed to win the presidency.
Mr Trump’s upset win came in the face of a huge voter turnout among America’s Hispanic communities, which was presumed to be solidly behind Mr Trump’s rival, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Mr Trump will become the 45th President of the United States, and the first Republican to hold the office since George W Bush.
His victory was seen as a major upset, with the majority of opinion polls predicting a narrow victory for Ms Clinton.
How election day unfolded
(Times are all New York)
* 10am: Hillary Clinton, with husband Bill by her side, tells waiting press at a voting booth in her home town of Chappaqua, New York, she cast a vote for herself as a historic first female President as “the most humbling feeling.” He joked he was already “good” at being political spouse with “15 years of practice.”
* 10.45am: Donald Trump, wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, her husband and daughter arrive at Manhattan’s Public School 59, a school just blocks from his home and office at Trump Tower. While he waves at crowds, the reception is marked by a mix of cheers and loud boos.
* 11.25am: Trump’s middle son, Eric, earns the wrath of electoral officials by posting a photo of his ballot, boasting about the thrill of voting for his father. The picture constitutes a major breach of NY voting rules which prohibits publication of ballots.
* 2pm: One person was shot dead and three others wounded when an assailant armed with a military-style rifle opened fire in a residential area of Azusa, California forcing authorities to shutdown nearby polling places.
* 4pm: A Florida judge refused an appeal by the Trump camp to name Nevada polling officials who it alleges kept booths open beyond allowed hours for early voters (pre-poll).
* 7pm: first polls close, with Alaska one of the last states to factor into counting when their booth doors shut at 1am
* 11.30pm: Trump is declared the winner of 29 electoral votes in the swing state of Florida, where a surge in Hispanic voters was predicted pre-poll to fall for Clinton. This is followed by unexpected wins in North Carolina,
* 12.25am: Clinton wins Nevada and its crucial 6 electoral votes.
* 12.39am: The Dow plunges 800 points at prospect of a Trump Presidency, losing the average American about five per cent on their 401K savings (superannuation funds).
* 2.34am: AP calls the election in favour of Donald Trump.
* 2.55am: Donald Trump takes the stage and accepts the Presidency.
Originally published as US election results: Donald Trump claims victory
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