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WASHINGTON (AP) – Early results showed a close race in America’s battle states Tuesday, as Joe Biden hopes a polarized electorate will defeat President Donald Trump in the face of a deadly pandemic.
Preliminary figures showed a deeply divided nation and mixed signs for each candidate, with Biden appearing to underperform in the crucial state of Florida as Trump advanced on Cuban-American dominated Miami.
But Biden was also beating Trump in suburban areas that have traditionally leaned toward the president’s Republican Party, including around Atlanta in Georgia.
American networks projected winners in various states expected after the polls closed, with Biden winning vote-rich Virginia, as well as little Vermont and Trump triumphing in Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Ohio’s all-time benchmark, where, like Georgia, Biden has seen hope after months of polls showing comfortable margins for Trump, has yet to report most of the results, as polls closed at 7:30. p.m
But with more than 100 million Americans voting before Election Day due to the Covid-19 pandemic, final results could take hours or even days in crucial states like Pennsylvania.
Trump, 74, expressed his confidence as the evening approached, tweeting in all his capital letters: “WE ARE GOING REALLY WELL ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THANKS!”
In a break with the traditional firewall between the campaigns and the administration, Trump broke the rules and scrapped an event at his hotel in Washington and was seeing the results in the White House.
It was not clear if he would speak to the public at some point, but he said early Tuesday that he was not yet “thinking of a concession speech or an acceptance speech.
“Winning is easy,” he said. “Losing is never easy, not for me.”
‘Overwhelming participation’
Biden, huddled with his family at their home in Delaware, also said voting patterns during the day seemed to favor his side.
“What I hear is that there is overwhelming participation. And an overwhelming turnout, particularly from young people, from women, and an overwhelming turnout from African-American voters, particularly in Georgia and Florida, over 65, ”he told reporters.
“The things that are happening bode well for the base that has been supporting me.”
Trump has repeatedly refused to confirm that he will accept the election results, a first for a US president. He argues, without offering evidence, that the large number of mail-in ballots could be used to rig the polls against him.
In the run-up to Election Day, Trump was especially focused on Pennsylvania, which allows ballots postmarked on Election Day to be counted, even if they arrive later.
“The whole world is waiting,” Trump said early Tuesday.
“You can’t delay these things for many days,” he continued, disturbingly adding that “a lot of bad things can happen.”
“We should have the right to know who won on November 3,” he said.
However, he somewhat allayed fears that he will try to declare victory prematurely, telling Fox News that he will only declare “when there is victory.”
“There is no reason to play,” he said.
‘Scary’
Americans couldn’t be more divided on Trump.
For some, it represents a breath of fresh air that brought their entrepreneurial instincts to shake the Washington establishment. For the other half of the country, he is a corrupt leader who ruined America’s reputation abroad and fueled dangerous racist and nationalist sentiments at home.
In Miami, Juan Carlos Bertran, a 60-year-old Cuban-American mechanic, said that Trump “seems better to me for the country’s economy.”
“Now I have two jobs,” he said. “Before I only had one.”
But voting in New York, Megan Byrnes-Borderan, 35, said Trump’s threats to challenge the election results in court were “terrifying.”
“I think Trump will go through all the difficulties to try to win the election,” he said.
Another New York voter, Justin Rodriguez, 32, said he was voting for Biden. “I really don’t like the tension,” he said. “I think Trump has brought a lot more tension than we usually have.”
Fearing riots, store owners boarded up windows in Washington and other major cities.
Covid issue
Biden has pointed to widespread public disapproval of Trump’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 230,000 Americans.
Trump, who quickly recovered from his own attack with the virus in October, is betting that Americans want to leave the crisis behind and reopen the economy entirely. Biden, by contrast, preaches caution and accuses the president of having abandoned his basic responsibilities.
“We are done with the chaos! We are done with the tweets, the anger, the hatred, the failure, the irresponsibility, “Biden said at a rally on the eve of the election in Cleveland, Ohio.
Covid-19 fears fueled the large influx of early voters, encouraged by Biden. Trump has responded by holding dozens of mass election rallies without social distancing, underscoring his message that it is time to move on.
Roughly a third of the Senate is up for grabs, and Republicans risk losing their 53-47 majority.
