7:15 a.m.
President Barack Obama has invited President-elect Donald Trump to meet with him at the White House on Thursday.
The president plans to address Trump’s victory in a statement from the White House on Wednesday.
The White House says Obama called Trump from his residence in the White House early Wednesday to congratulate him. White House spokesman Josh Earnest says the Thursday meeting is to discuss the presidential transition.
Obama also called Hillary Clinton. The White House says Obama conveyed admiration for the “strong campaign she waged throughout the country.”
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6:45 a.m.
Becoming president-elect hasn’t stopped Donald Trump from tweeting.
Trump pledged in a tweet Wednesday morning: “The forgotten man and woman will never be forgotten again. We will all come together as never before.”
Trump has been an avid user of Twitter, often using it during the account to attack opponents and critics in harsh terms.
His account did look different Wednesday: His Twitter profile now identifies him as “president-elect of the United States.”
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6:15 a.m.
President Barack Obama is congratulating Donald Trump on his victory in becoming the president-elect.
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway says Obama called Trump early Wednesday while he was speaking to his supporters in New York, and so Trump called him back after he left the stage.
She said the two had what she described as a “very nice talk.” She said they would meet possibly on Thursday.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest had told reporters traveling aboard Air Force One last week that the president was leaving his schedule open on Wednesday and Thursday for a possible meeting with the president-elect.
On Tuesday night, Trump said that he had received a call from his opponent, Hillary Clinton. In his remarks to supporters, he praised her for a hard-fought campaign and said Americans owe her a major debt of gratitude for her long service to the country.
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NEW YORK (AP) — Hillary Clinton conceded the presidency to Donald Trump in a phone call early Wednesday morning, a stunning end to a campaign that appeared poised to make her the nation’s first female president right up until Election Day.
Clinton called Trump after it became clear that the celebrity businessman had won enough states to capture the White House. But she made no public appearance before supporters who had gathered under the glass ceiling of New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center planning to celebrate what was expected to be her historic victory.
“We’re still counting votes and every vote should count,” campaign chairman John Podesta said in brief remarks before the shrinking audience. “Several states are still close to call and we’re not going to have anything more to say tonight.” Clinton planned to make a statement later Wednesday morning.
But inside the venue, the mood had already grown increasingly grim as Trump captured battleground states like Florida, North Carolina and Ohio and shattered a longstanding “blue wall” of states in the Upper Midwest that had backed every Democratic presidential candidate since her husband, Bill Clinton, won the presidency in 1992.
“My disappointment makes me not trust the rest of the world,” said Katie Fahey, who had flown to New York from Grand Rapids, Michigan, wearing a red pantsuit, expecting a victory party. “I don’t even want to go out. I want to wear sweatpants and curl myself up in a corner.”
The results were startling to Clinton and her aides, who had ended their campaign with a whirlwind tour of battleground states and had projected optimism that she would maintain the diverse coalition assembled by President Barack Obama in the past two elections. Clinton, her family and close aides hunkered down to watch returns at a Manhattan hotel suite.
Clinton’s stunning loss was certain to open painful soul-searching within the party, which had endured a lengthy primary between Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who drew strong support among liberals amid an electorate calling for change. Clinton repeatedly called Trump unfit and unqualified for the presidency and in the closing days, Obama told supporters in North Carolina that “the fate of the Republic rests on your shoulders.”
“The mistake that we made is that we ignored the powerful part of Trump’s message because we hated so much of the rest of his message. The mistake we made is that people would ignore that part and just focus on the negative,” said Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis, who was not affiliated with the campaign.
The tumultuous presidential cycle bequeathed a series of political gifts for Clinton’s GOP rival: An FBI investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server, questions of pay-for-play involving her family’s charitable foundation, Sanders’ primary challenge, Clinton’s health scare at a Sept. 11 memorial ceremony and FBI Director James Comey’s late October announcement that investigators had uncovered emails potentially relevant to her email case.
Yet her team spent the bulk of their time focused on attacking Trump, while failing to adequately address Clinton’s deep liabilities — or the wave of frustration roiling the nation.
Every time the race focused on Clinton, her numbers dropped, eventually making her one of the least liked presidential nominees in history. And she offered an anxious electorate a message of breaking barriers and the strength of diversity — hardly a rallying cry — leaving her advisers debating the central point of her candidacy late into the primary race.
Nearly a year into her campaign, she still was searching for a message that would address that anger and present a forward-looking vision for the country.
“Do we have any sense from her what she believes or wants her core message to be?” asked chief strategist Joel Benenson, in a February 2016 email, about a memo laying out her message.
His message was part of an October WikiLeaks hack that exposed many of the campaign’s battles in the crucial final weeks of the campaign.
Clinton’s campaign was infuriated by a late October announcement by Comey that investigators had uncovered emails that may have been pertinent to the dormant investigation into Clinton’s use of private emails while secretary of state. On the Sunday before the election, Comey told lawmakers that the bureau had found no evidence in its hurried review of newly discovered emails to warrant criminal charges against Clinton.
But the announcement may have damaged Clinton while her campaign tried to generate support in early voting in battleground states like Florida and North Carolina. In the nine days between Comey’s initial statement until his “all clear” announcement, nearly 24 million people cast early ballots. That was about 18 percent of the expected total votes for president.
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Donald Trump has been elected president of the United States.
The Republican nominee won Wednesday after capturing Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes, putting him over the 270 threshold.
Voters eager to shake up the nation’s political establishment picked the celebrity businessman to become the nation’s 45th president.
Trump rode an astonishing wave of support from voters seeking change and willing to accept a candidate loose with facts and accused of sexual misconduct.
He upset Democrat Hillary Clinton, who would have become the first woman to serve in the Oval Office.
Trump struck a populist tone and placed a hardline immigration stance at his campaign’s heart.
Trump rose to political fame after questioning whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States. He will now follow Obama into the White House.
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2:22 a.m.
Donald Trump has arrived at his election night headquarters after winning the state of Pennsylvania.
Trump’s motorcade traveled from nearby Trump Tower to the midtown hotel where thousands of his supporters and hundreds of reporters are gathered.
Trump is expected to address the crowd.
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2:08 a.m.
Republicans have officially retained control of the U.S. Senate.
It comes as Missouri Republican Roy Blunt and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski won their two races in Tuesday’s election.
Republicans have a 51-47 edge in the Senate. Two races remain outstanding: In Louisiana, the seat will head to a runoff election next month. And in New Hampshire, Democrat Maggie Hassan and Republican Kelly Ayotte are locked in a too-close-to-call race.
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2:05 a.m.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman says it has nothing more to say even as votes turn against her.
John Podesta told a crowd in New York early Wednesday that with states still uncalled “we’re not going to have anything else to say tonight.”
Clinton trails in the Electoral College count and Donald Trump is close to breaking the 270-vote threshold to become president.
Podesta told the crowd Clinton “has done an amazing job” and “is not done yet.”
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1:36 a.m.
Donald Trump has won Pennsylvania and its prize of 20 electoral votes.
Trump’s stunning victory in the key battleground state gives him 264 electoral votes.
It takes 270 electoral votes to win the presidency. Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, has 215.
Pennsylvania last voted for a Republican for president in 1988. Trump repeatedly campaigned there, believing his populist message would resonate with the state’s working-class voters.
Clinton long viewed the state as a key part of her “firewall” and rallied in Philadelphia with President Barack Obama on Monday night. The Democrats also held their nominating convention in the city.
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1:30 a.m.
House Speaker Paul Ryan has congratulated Donald Trump on “his big night.”
A Ryan spokeswoman confirms that the Republican speaker called the Republican presidential nominee Tuesday evening. The spokeswoman, AshLee Strong, says they had “a very good conversation.”
She says, “The speaker congratulated Trump on his big night and also spoke with his good friend Gov. Mike Pence.”
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12:42 a.m.
The mood is dark at Hillary Clinton’s election night party.
Stony-faced supporters were crying and anxiously staring at the big screens showing election results. Some began leaving as the race wore on into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Thousands had gathered at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City for Clinton’s election night party. The glass-ceilinged building was picked as a nod to what aides expected would be the historic electionof the first female U.S. president.
Clinton, her family and close aides have spent hours ensconced in a suite at the Peninsula New York, a luxury hotel in midtown Manhattan.
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12:30 a.m.
Donald Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway is describing the mood inside Trump Tower as “buoyant.”
She tells The Associated Press that the team is hopeful as results continue to roll in.
A Trump victory would represent a stunning upset against his rival Hillary Clinton.
Thousands of his supporters are gathered in a midtown Manhattan hotel ballroom watching the results on Fox.
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12:25 a.m.
Former Navy SEAL Eric Greitens has won the Missouri governor’s race, beating Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster. The contest offered voters a vivid choice between experience and a fresh start.
Greitens, a first-time Republican candidate, has touted himself as an outsider and pledged to tackle corruption in the state Capitol. Koster took the opposite approach, emphasizing that his nearly 22 years in elected office make him qualified to run state government.
Without a voting record, Greitens was running on his time as a Navy SEAL officer and founder of a charity for veterans, The Mission Continues. Greitens’ lengthy resume also includes stints as a Rhodes scholar and White House fellow, champion boxer and martial artist, a best-selling author and motivational speaker.
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12:23 a.m.
Republicans have clinched continued House control for the new Congress. They’ll likely lose seats from their current historic high, but they won enough seats to extend their six-year streak of commanding the chamber.
With voting results still being counted early Wednesday, Republicans have won at least 218 House seats. That exceeds the number needed to control the chamber.
Democrats started the year hoping Donald Trump’s divisive presidential candidacy would cost Republicans bushels of House seats. His impact on down-ballot candidates proved spotty.
Republicans now control 247 seats in the House. With a smaller GOP majority, dissident hard-right conservatives could have added leverage to press House Speaker Paul Ryan and other party leaders on the budget and other issues.
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12:21 a.m.
Hillary Clinton has won Nevada and its six electoral votes.
Her victory there in the presidential election brings Clinton’s Electoral College total to 215. Republican Donald Trump has 244 votes.
It takes 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.
Clinton’s win in Nevada is the first time since the 1940s that the Democrats have carried the state in three consecutive elections.
The winner of the U.S. presidential election has failed to carry Nevada only once.
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12:05 a.m.
Democrat Jay Inslee has been re-elected governor of Washington, beating challenger Bill Bryant.
Inslee, a former congressman, touted his environmental record throughout the campaign. He said the state is requiring the biggest polluters to reduce emissions and is promoting alternative energy.
Bryant, a former Seattle Port commissioner, sharply criticized Inslee in the months leading up to the November election. He said Inslee had mismanaged state departments, especially the state’s mental health system. He also said Inslee had failed to come up with a plan to fund K-12 education, as mandated by the state Supreme Court.
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12:02 a.m.
Donald Trump has won the battleground state of Iowa.
He was awarded the state’s six Electoral College votes early Wednesday.
Trump now has 244 electoral votes. His Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton has 209.
Iowa had voted for a Republican only once since 1984 but polls remained tight throughout the campaign. Trump proved popular with the state’s sizable evangelical population while Clinton and her allies campaigned frequently in its college towns.
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11:53 p.m.
Donald Trump has won Utah.
The Republican nominee was awarded its six electoral college votes.
He now has 238 electoral votes. His Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton has 209.
Utah is normally one of the safest states on the map for Republicans. But the presence of independent Evan McMullin changed the calculation this year as polls consistently reflected a tight three-way race. Trump also had struggled with Mormons, who are normally reliably Republican voters.
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11:44 p.m.
Kate Brown has been re-elected governor of Oregon over Republican newcomer Bud Pierce.
Brown became governor in February 2015 after the resignation of John Kitzhaber over an influence-peddling scandal. Brown was then secretary of state and next in line to succeed him.
Tuesday’s gubernatorial vote was a special election to fill the remainder of Kitzhaber’s four-year term.
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11:43 p.m.
Donald Trump’s victory in Ohio demonstrates the Republican nominee’s ability to energize working-class voters outside of America’s largest cities.
Mahoning County stands out as a working-class county where organized labor still maintains political clout. Trump didn’t win the county that surrounds Youngstown. But he might as well have.
Hillary Clinton won by just 3 percentage points and less than 3,500 votes. Four years ago, President Barack Obama outpaced Mitt Romney by almost 25,000 votes on his way to a 28-point margin in the county. Clinton fell more than 20,000 votes shy of Obama’s total.
Youngstown is represented in Congress by a Democrat who offers some of the same populist appeal to labor as Trump. But those loyalties to Rep. Tim Ryan apparently didn’t transfer to Clinton.
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11:37 p.m.
Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott has won election as governor of Vermont.
He defeated Democrat Sue Minter.
The popular construction company executive and part-time race-car driver had served three two-year terms as Vermont’s part-time lieutenant governor. He was previously in the state Senate.
Scott takes over in January from Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin, who decided not to seek a fourth two-year term.
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11:36 p.m.
The crowd at Donald Trump’s election watch party is jubilant as returns continue to roll in putting him closer to 270 Electoral College votes.
Supporters packed into a hotel ballroom in midtown Manhattan are breaking into chants of “USA!” and embracing each other in groups.
Others are breaking into song, bellowing “God Bless America” at the top of their lungs.
The screens in the ballroom are turned to Fox News. When the station shows images of Clinton’s electionheadquarters, the room breaks into boos and chants of one of Trump’s slogans: “Drain the swamp!”
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11:33 p.m.
Donald Trump has won Georgia.
The Republican nominee on Tuesday was awarded its 16 electoral votes.
Trump now has 232 electoral votes while his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton has 209.
The Democrats had some hopes that changing demographics in Georgia could allow then to flip the reliably Republican state but their efforts fell short.
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11:29 p.m.
Hillary Clinton has won Washington state and its 12 electoral votes.
The victory in Tuesday’s elections brings the former secretary of state’s electoral vote total to 209. Republican Donald Trump has 216.
It takes 270 votes to win the presidency.
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11:15 p.m.
California voters passed a ballot measure to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, giving a big boost to the campaign to end the drug’s national prohibition.
Adults older than 21 can legally possess up to an ounce of marijuana and grow six plants.
California was one of five states where votes were considering the legalization of recreational marijuana Tuesday. Four other states were considering measures to legalize medicinal marijuana.
So far, voters in Florida and North Dakota have also passed marijuana measures Tuesday.
Collectively, it’s the closest the U.S. has ever come to national referendum on marijuana.
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11:15 p.m.
Arizona voters have booted Sheriff Joe Arpaio from office in his bid for a seventh term after his legal problems in a racial profiling case culminated in a criminal charge two weeks before Election Day.
The 84-year-old Republican became a national figure by cracking down on illegal immigration and forcing jail inmates to wear pink underwear. He lost to Democrat Paul Penzone on Tuesday.
The race became a referendum on Arpaio’s legal woes. Federal prosecutors brought a contempt-of-court charge stemming from his defiance of a judge’s order to stop carrying out patrols targeting Latinos.
Arpaio has faced criminal investigations in the past without being charged or losing his seat. That changed Tuesday despite a devoted base of supporters and strong fundraising, mainly from out-of-state donors.
He still faces the possibility of jail time.
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11:11 p.m.
Donald Trump has won battleground North Carolina and its 15 electoral votes.
The victory in Tuesday’s elections brings the billionaire’s electoral vote total to 216. Democrat Hillary Clinton has 197.
North Carolina was one of the hardest-fought contests of the election and is one of the map’s newest swing states. It consistently went for Republicans until Barack Obama captured it in 2008. Republican Mitt Romney narrowly won the state in 2012.
At least 270 electoral votes are needed to win the presidency.
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11:06 p.m.
Hillary Clinton has won Oregon.
The Democratic nominee on Tuesday was awarded its seven electoral votes.
Clinton now has 197 electoral votes. Her Republican opponent Donald Trump has 201.
Several key battleground states have yet to be won.
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11 p.m.
Hillary Clinton has won California and Hawaii. Donald Trump has won Idaho’s four electoral votes.
The results in the West bring Clinton’s electoral vote total to 190 and Trump’s to 201. It takes 270 votes to win the presidency.
The results were not surprising. California, with 55 electoral votes, has voted for Democrats beginning in 1992. Hawaii has chosen Democrats consistently since 1988.
Idaho has voted for Republicans beginning in 1968.
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10:50 p.m.
Donald Trump has won the key battleground state of Florida.
Trump on Tuesday was awarded 29 electoral votes.
He now has 197 electoral votes. His Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton has 131.
Both candidates have spent an extraordinary amount of time in Florida, one of the most important prizes on the map. Trump calls Florida his “second home” and his campaign acknowledged that a win there is vital to his White House hopes.
Barack Obama captured the Sunshine State in both 2008 and 2012.
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