Trump Leads Early in US Presidential Election, Harris Trails
Former President Donald Trump has secured an early lead in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, with 214 electoral votes compared to Vice President Kamala Harris’s 179, as key battleground states continue to count votes.
Harris’s victories so far include California, Washington state, Washington, D.C., and an electoral vote from Maine, while Trump has claimed Idaho, Iowa, and Kansas. With most polls now closed, the race is still too close to call as votes remain to be counted in pivotal states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona.
Election analysts, including Elaine Kamarck from the Brookings Institution, have predicted that the outcome will hinge on a few key states. “It’s going to come down to a handful of states,” Kamarck told VOA. Read More… Two-year-old girl raped to death in Bauchi
In Senate races, history was made as Maryland and Delaware elected Democrats Angela Alsobrooks and Lisa Blunt Rochester to the Senate, marking the first time two Black women, both Democrats, will serve in the chamber at the same time. “From the bottom of my heart, Delaware, thank you,” Rochester said in a post on the social media platform X.
Elsewhere, Democrats Tim Kaine of Virginia and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico secured re-election. On the Republican side, Ted Cruz from Texas, Josh Hawley from Missouri, and John Curtis from Utah won their races, while Jim Justice of West Virginia flipped a seat for the GOP.
In Indiana, Jim Banks, a military veteran, won the state’s open Senate seat, while other Republican victories came from Rick Scott (Florida), Roger Wicker (Mississippi), and Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee).
As the election continues, the FBI has warned of fake videos and posts circulating online, intended to spread misinformation about the election. The false claims include fabricated warnings about polling station violence and voting machine malfunctions.
Abortion rights are also a key issue in this election, with the fallout from the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn *Roe v. Wade* still influencing voter choices. Kamala Harris has made defending a woman’s right to choose central to her campaign, pledging to sign a bill restoring abortion protections nationwide. Trump, however, has stated that abortion should be decided at the state level.
With 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, both candidates face an uncertain path ahead as critical results from battleground states continue to come in. APC Protesters Storm National Assembly Over Hardship
