What you need to know about election night

Photo: Julia Demaree Nikhinson Associated Press Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump claims victory during a speech in the early morning hours, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Alex Fontaine

Published at 1:15 AM Updated at 4:22 AM

• United States

At 4 a.m., after Donald Trump had already claimed victory, the Republicans were on the verge of power. Here's the state of play.

What we know

Donald Trump addressed supporters at a rally in West Palm Beach, Florida, around 2:30 a.m. He declared himself the winner of the election, although Fox News was the only major U.S. media outlet to announce his victory. He has already received congratulatory messages from several foreign leaders.

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Donald Trump had 266 electoral votes, while Kamala Harris had 219. A candidate must have at least 270 votes to win.

There were six states left where the results were still inconclusive. The Republican candidate was ahead in four of them.

The first key state to be awarded was North Carolina, shortly before 11:30 p.m.: it went to the Republican camp. The latter also took Georgia shortly after. Pennsylvania — and its 19 electoral votes — then went to the Republican fold.

Republicans have regained control of the Senate. This year, 34 of the 100 seats were up for grabs. While the final results were not known, Donald Trump's party was given a total of 51 senators.

European and Asian stock markets opened with strong gains, and pre-session trading pointed to a green opening on Wall Street.

Citizens in several states were also voting in referendums. In Florida, citizens refused to enshrine abortion rights in their state constitution, while those in Maryland, Colorado, Missouri and New York voted for measures to protect access to elective terminations of pregnancy.

What we don't know

No candidate has yet reached the 270 electoral votes needed to claim victory, although the path seems clear for Mr. Trump.

Four of the seven key states were still undecided, representing a total of 42 electoral votes. They are Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada. Donald Trump was ahead in each of them.

In the House of Representatives, all 435 seats are up for grabs. As of 4 a.m., Republicans were ahead by 200 seats and Democrats by 171.