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Japan’s birth count is projected to dip below 700,000 for the first time in 2024, according to government data released Tuesday, revealing a 6.3 percent drop in births for the year’s first half to 329,998, compared to the same period last year. This figure, covering only Japanese citizens, highlights a continued low birth rate as more people choose to remain single or postpone marriage and parenthood until later in life. Meanwhile, deaths in the first half of 2024 rose by 1.8 percent year-on-year to 800,274, leading to a natural population decrease of 470,276, as reported by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. Japan's population decline, ongoing for 15 consecutive years, is fueling labor shortages that strain social security systems like health care and pensions, with local government services also at risk. In response, the Japanese government is intensifying efforts to lift the birth rate, including increased childcare subsidies and parental leave benefits, viewing the period until the early 2030s as a critical window to reverse this trend. In comparison, Japan recorded 352,240 births in the first half of 2023 and a full-year total of 727,277. Preliminary data from August showed a 5.7 percent drop in births from January to June 2024, amounting to 350,074, including births among foreigners and Japanese citizens living abroad.

Global leaders have extended early congratulations to Donald Trump on what many are calling a “historic comeback” to the White House. Despite the official results not yet being declared, the election has drawn considerable international response. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán were among the first to issue congratulatory statements, followed by leaders from France, the UK, and India. Writing on X, Zelenskyy expressed a warm message to Trump, recalling their recent discussions. "I had a great meeting with President Trump back in September, when we discussed in detail the Ukraine-U.S. strategic partnership, the Victory Plan, and ways to put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine," he shared. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu also posted a celebratory message on X, noting his excitement about Trump’s projected victory: "Dear Donald and Melania Trump, Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback! Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory!” Hungary's Viktor Orbán, known for his right-wing stance, called it "the biggest comeback in US political history!" Orbán added, "Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump on his enormous win. A much-needed victory for the World!" Read: "Have to put country first for at least a period of time": Trump in election night speech French President Emmanuel Macron extended his message of congratulations in both French and English, underscoring a willingness to work together again: "Congratulations, President @realDonaldTrump,” he posted on X. "Ready to work together as we did for four years. With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity.” In the UK, newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose Labour government recently took office, offered his best wishes to Trump, posting, "Congratulations President-elect @realDonaldTrump on your historic election victory. I look forward to working with you in the years ahead." Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also joined in, congratulating Trump on his return to the presidency. “Heartiest congratulations my friend @realDonaldTrump on your historic election victory," Modi wrote on X, adding, "As you build on the successes of your previous term, I look forward to renewing our collaboration to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership. Together, let's work for the betterment of our people and to promote global peace, stability and prosperity."

Trump, someone whose political career has been defined by division and acrimony, told the audience at his election night party early on Wednesday that it was “time to unite” as a country. “It’s time to put the divisions of the past four years behind us,” Trump said. “It’s time to unite.” “We have to put our country first for at least a period of time,” he added. “We have to fix it.” Trump speaks at election party flanked by family, friends and top political supporters Most of the important people in Trump’s personal and political life have joined him on stage in West Palm Beach, Florida. Former first lady Melania Trump stood near her husband and was joined by Barron, the former president’s youngest son. Trump’s older children, Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka and Tiffany, all joined their father on stage, too. Trump’s top political minds, including top campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, joined Trump on stage. And his political allies were on stage, too, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. Trump also celebrated a few celebrities in the audience and on stage. Dana White, the CEO of UFC, was on stage with Trump, and the former president called golfer Bryson DeChambeau on stage. Trump also shouted out Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, who has become one of his most high-profile supporters. “We have a new star. A star is born: Elon,” Trump said. Trump promised that he would “not rest until we have delivered the strong safe and prosperous America.” “Every single day,” Trump said, “I will be fighting for you with every breath in my body.” Republican Donald Trump wins Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina, capturing three of the seven heavily contested battlegrounds and coming within a few electoral votes of winning the presidency. Republicans reclaimed control of the Senate, picking up seats in West Virginia and Ohio. Top House races are focused in New York and California, where Democrats are trying to claw back some of the 10 or so seats where Republicans have made surprising gains in recent years. Trump hails GOP’s congressional wins Donald Trump made sure to recognize GOP wins in down ballot races in his speech in the early morning Wednesday. “The number of victories in the senate was absolutely incredible,” Trump said. Republicans have so far won 51 seats, giving them a majority. But Montana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada have not been called, and it’s possible Republicans could pick up more seats. Trump also said he expected Republicans to hold the House and complimented House Speaker Mike Johnson. The House, however, is still up for grabs. There are over 70 House races across the country that have not been called, and neither party has a convincing edge in the tally of House races.  

Republican Donald Trump wins Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina, capturing three of the seven heavily contested battlegrounds and coming within a few electoral votes of winning the presidency. Republicans reclaimed control of the Senate, picking up seats in West Virginia and Ohio. Top House races are focused in New York and California, where Democrats are trying to claw back some of the 10 or so seats where Republicans have made surprising gains in recent years. Donald Trump has taken the stage The AP’s current count has him at 267 of the 270 electoral votes he needs to win the White House. He is leading in key races left to be called, including Michigan and Wisconsin. Pennsylvania puts Trump three electoral votes short of the presidential thresholdTrump’s victory in Pennsylvania has put him three electoral votes short of winning the presidency. He could win the White House by capturing Alaska or any remaining swing state. Hugs, calls and celebration at Trump’s watch party Trump supporters gathered at his election night watch party were hugging one another, making calls, jumping up and down, and throwing their MAGA hats in the air every chance they got to celebrate as results continued to trickle in. Guests are still arriving at the convention center in West Palm Beach. Democrats flip another House seat in New York The pickups for House Democrats have mostly come from New York so far as the party flipped its second seat in the state. Democrat Josh Riley defeated Republican Rep. Mark Molinaro in a district that spans across the center of the state. Democrats earlier flipped a seat held by Rep. Brandon Williams. While a House majority is still up for grabs, the victories will buoy Democrats’ hopes, especially in House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ home state. Nevada polls close nearly 3 hours later Polls closed in Nevada nearly three hours late after voters waited in long lines to cast ballots, the state’s top election official said, and initial election results began to be posted just before 10 p.m. PST. Polls had been scheduled to close at 7 p.m., but state law allows anyone in line at that time to cast a ballot. Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar acknowledged Nevada’s position as an electoral battleground and promised to keep updating results as the counties receive “and cure” additional ballots. Mailed ballots are accepted and counted until Saturday, and thousands of voters whose ballots were set aside to allow for signature verification, or “curing,” have until 5 p.m. Nov. 12 to validate their vote with election officials. Aguilar, a Democrat, called Nevada’s elections “safe, secure and transparent” and said he was proud of reports of high voter turnout. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joins Trump watch party The former presidential candidate has arrived at the Palm Beach Convention Center, entering and walking briskly as he made his way near the stage among crowds of supporters. Trump has said he will play a role when it comes to health policy but has not specified what that would be. Kennedy, who launched his own presidential bid as an independent before dropping out of the race and endorsing Trump, joined him at several rallies in the last stretch of the campaign. Republicans celebrate early turnout among Black and Hispanic votersAs the election stretched into the early hours of Wednesday, Republicans — seeing a map trending positively for their party — began to point to a shift in demographic support among key voting groups who often lean Democrat. Preliminary AP VoteCast data suggested a shift among Black and Latino voters, who appeared slightly less likely to support Harris than they were to back Biden four years ago. About 8 in 10 Black voters backed Harris, down from the roughly 9 in 10 who backed Biden. More than half of Hispanic voters supported Harris, but that was down slightly from the roughly 6 in 10 who backed Biden in 2020. Trump’s support among those groups appeared to rise slightly compared to 2020. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio told AP at Trump’s election watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida, that he’s excited for the exit polling in states like Pennsylvania and Georgia, where Republicans are already seeing overperformance compared to this time in the election in 2020. “I’m just really excited not just because I think it’s going to be a victory but about how we won,” the Florida lawmaker said.  There are serious 2016 echoes in Harris’ 2024 election night Forgive Democrats if they are having a bit of déjà vu. There are noticeable similarities between then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s election night in 2016 and the one that Harris had planned for tonight at Howard University. Neither Clinton nor Harris, appeared at their election night party, despite both heading into Election Day believing they were about to defeat Donald Trump. Both sent top aides to inform the demoralized audience that the woman would not speak. And there were noticeable similarities between what each man said. “We still have votes to count. We still have states that have not been called yet. We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted,” Cedric Richmond, Harris’ campaign co-chair, told the audience Tuesday. “So you won’t hear from the vice president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow.” “We’re still counting votes,” John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, said in 2016. “And every vote should count. Several states are too close to call. So we’re not going to have anything more to say tonight.” Even the mood of the events — and the trajectory they took over the course of the night — was similar. The vibe at Clinton’s event at Javits Center started jubilantly, with people dancing, smiling and eager to make history — the campaign had even planned to launch reflective confetti in the air when Clinton won to resemble a glass ceiling shattering. The same was true for Harris, with the event resembling a dance party on the campus of the Democrat’s alma mater. By the time Podesta and Richmond had taken the stage, the party had stopped, people had left, and those who remained looked forlorn. Harris’ path to the White House is growing less forgiving Harris still has a path to the White House through the Northern battleground states, but the map is getting less forgiving. Harris’ campaign has long said her surest way to 270 electoral votes was through Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, states Trump won in 2016 and Biden captured narrowly in 2020. Harris cannot lose Pennsylvania and reach 270 electoral votes. However, she can lose pieces of the blue wall — so named for its longtime reputation as a Democratic firewall — and still reach 270. If she loses Michigan, she can make it up by winning Arizona and Nevada. She can lose Wisconsin and make up for it with Arizona. But the map has surely shrunk for Harris, who cannot lose more than one in the three-state northern arc. Trump campaign comments on Harris’ watch party mood A Trump campaign spokesperson is weighing in as the mood has shifted over at Harris’ watch party. “Sounds like the joy has left the building,” posted Karoline Leavitt, a campaign spokeswoman on X. The Harris campaign turned off its projected CNN broadcasts at its election night watch party at Howard University as midnight approached. And some Harris supporters began leaving the event. Harris’ Howard party cuts CNN, resumes music as tough race calls roll inAs midnight approached on the East Coast, the Harris campaign turned off its projected broadcasts of CNN at its election night watch party at Howard University. Instead, various high-energy remixes blared from speakers alongside floodlights flickering in tempo to hype the crowd. The cheers in the crowd had become less frequent as more results came in from battleground states showing a tight race or victories for Trump. Some attendees began leaving the event though the vast majority of rallygoers remained. It is unclear if Harris will make an appearance at her alma mater. Melania Trump shows image of her son Barron voting “Voted for the first time - for his dad,” she shared on X. Barron Trump turned 18 years old in March and began his freshman year at New York University this fall. Republicans secure Senate control The GOP has won control of the Senate as Sen. Deb Fischer secures reelection in Nebraska. With at least 51 Senate seats secured, Republicans will retake control of the chamber for the first time in four years. It gives the party a major power center in Washington and important power in confirming the next president’s Cabinet, as well as any Supreme Court justice if there is a vacancy. With a handful of battleground races yet to be decided, Republicans still have an opportunity to grow their majority. GOP senators have already been looking at ways to extend tax cuts that were passed during Donald Trump’s first term, as well as sending funding towards toughened border security measures. However, the extent of Republicans’ power in Washington will also be determined by the results of the presidential and House races. Rashida Tlaib wins reelection in Michigan House race Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., the only Palestinian American in Congress, has won a fourth term in the House. Tlaib represents a district with a large Arab-American population. She has been highly critical of Israel in its war against Hamas, describing its actions in Gaza as genocide. But her comments have also evoked outrage from many of her colleagues. The Republican-led House voted last year to censure her for her statements regarding the war. Tlaib said her criticism was directed toward Israel’s government and its leadership under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and vowed she “will not be silenced.” Sen. Ted Cruz calls victory in Texas a mandate for tougher border measuresRepublican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas says he considers his reelection victory over Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred a mandate for stronger enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border. During a victory speech in front of supporters in his hometown of Houston, Cruz praised strong support from Hispanic voters. He singled out South Texas, where Cruz was performing much better in large border counties than he did during a narrow victory in 2018 over Beto O’Rourke. “Tonight we are witnessing incredible results, especially with Hispanics across the state of Texas,” Cruz told the crowd. “And we are seeing tonight generational change in South Texas. The results tonight, this decisive victory should shake the Democratic establishment to its core.” Last poll closures Polls will close at midnight EST in Alaska and Hawaii. Ohio sends its first Latino to U.S. SenateBernie Moreno will be the first Latino that Ohio has sent to the U.S. Senate, thanks to his victory over Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Moreno was born in Bogota, Colombia. He moved with his family to the United States at age 5 and became an American citizen when he was 18. He built his fortune as a luxury car dealer and blockchain entrepreneur and will come to the Senate as one of its wealthiest members. Daughter fills in late mother’s congressional seatThe daughter of late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee won a special election Tuesday night to finish her mother’s congressional term. Erica Lee Carter defeated two Republican challengers in the race for the Houston-area district where her mother served for almost 30 years. Jackson Lee died in July at age 74 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Her funeral was filled with high profile mourners, including Vice President Harris who gave Jackson Lee’s eulogy just days after declaring her candidacy for president. Republicans gain steam towards Senate controlThe GOP’s victory in the Ohio Senate race puts them on track to gain a Senate majority as long as they keep their seats in Texas and Nebraska. In Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno defeated three-term Sen. Sherrod Brown. The long-serving Ohio Democrat had tried to appeal to working-class voters and make access to abortion a top priority, but Moreno, a Cleveland businessman, cast Brown as too liberal for the conservative state, tying the long-serving Ohio Democrat to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. As long as Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Deb Fischer of Nebraska secure reelection, the GOP will have the Senate in hand. Trump’s North Carolina win gives him options toward 270 thresholdBy winning North Carolina, Trump maintains options to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold. Trump can reach the magic number by carrying Georgia and Pennsylvania or by carrying Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin. He also can win by carrying Wisconsin and Arizona, as well as other combinations involving Nevada. But that would require him to crack the blue wall of northern states Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Trump blitzed North Carolina in the final days of the campaign, stopping in four cities over four days and finishing his North Carolina campaign in Raleigh on Monday. Harris’ Howard night energy turns from festive to fretting as race calls roll inThe mood at Harris’ election night party at Howard University shifted from electric to anxious as race calls began rolling in. The musical performances and triumphant speeches on display earlier in the evening have been replaced by occasional DJ mixes and broadcast race calls. Anxious faces and hushed talk spread through the crowd as the night stretched on and the tightness of the race became apparent. The still-packed crowd periodically went quiet as attendees watched returns come in on a giant projection of CNN. Rallygoers cheered and waved American flags as solidly blue states like Harris’ native California were called in her favor.

Voters for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump who cast their ballots for Tuesday’s presidential election had vastly different motivations — reflecting a broader national divide on the problems the United States faces. AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of more than 115,000 voters nationwide, found that the fate of democracy appeared to be a primary driver for Vice President Harris’ supporters. It was a sign that the Democratic nominee’s messaging in her campaign’s closing days accusing Trump of being a fascist may have broken through. By contrast, Trump’s supporters were largely focused on immigration and inflation — two issues that the former Republican president has been hammering since the start of his campaign. Trump has pledged that tariffs would bring back factory jobs and that greater domestic oil production would flow through the economy and lower prices. Overall, the presidential candidates’ coalitions, based on race, education and community type, appeared largely similar to the 2020 results. Preliminary AP VoteCast findings, however, hinted at some shifts among demographic groups that could be meaningful for the ultimate outcome, including among younger, Black and Hispanic voters. Voters’ conflicting views on key priorities set up a challenge for whoever ultimately wins the election to lead the world’s premier economic and military power. Voters saw the qualities of each candidate differently. They were more likely to describe Trump as a strong leader than they were Harris, but she had an edge over him on being seen as having the moral character needed to be president. Harris and Trump voters couldn’t agree on what matters About two-thirds of Harris voters said the future of democracy was the most important factor for their votes. No other topic — high prices, abortion policy, the future of free speech in the country or the potential to elect the first female president — was as big a factor for her backers. Trump voters were more motivated by economic issues and immigration. About half said high prices was the biggest issue factoring into their election decisions. About as many said that of the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. Only about one-third of Trump’s voters said democracy was the most important factor for their vote. About half his backers labeled the economy and jobs as the top issue facing the country, while about one-third said the top issue was immigration. Harris’s base, by contrast, was focused on a broader range of issues. About 3 in 10 called the economy a top issue, while about 2 in 10 said abortion and about 1 in 10 named health care or climate change. Small but possibly important shifts from 2020 Just as in 2020, more than 8 in 10 Trump voters were white, and more than 1 in 10 were nonwhite. Harris’ coalition largely resembled the diverse group that President Joe Biden assembled four years ago. About two-thirds of Harris’s backers were white, similar to Biden, and about one-third were nonwhite. About half of women backed Harris, while about half of men went for Trump. That appears largely consistent with the shares for Biden and Trump in 2020. Other key elements of the candidates’ coalitions appeared to hold as well. More than half of voters with a college degree backed Harris, and about half of those without a college degree voted for Trump. Harris performed more strongly in cities and suburbs nationally than Trump did, while Trump drew more support in small towns and rural areas. Preliminary AP VoteCast data suggested that some groups may have shifted, though, and any such changes could be significant in swing states where margins are likely tight. One potential trend could be among younger voters, whose political lives have been shaped by the presence of Trump, now in his third presidential election. Voters under age 30 are a fraction of the total electorate. But about half of them supported Harris, compared to the roughly 6 in 10 who backed Biden in 2020. Slightly more than 4 in 10 young voters went for Trump, up from about one-third in 2020. Another shift that emerged was among Black and Latino voters, who appeared slightly less likely to support Harris than they were to back Biden four years ago. About 8 in 10 Black voters backed Harris, down from the roughly 9 in 10 who backed Biden. More than half of Hispanic voters supported Harris, but that was down slightly from the roughly 6 in 10 who backed Biden in 2020. Trump’s support among those groups appeared to rise slightly compared to 2020. Most Trump and Harris voters motivated in support of their candidate Both candidates generated loyalty among their coalitions, a change from four years ago when Trump was ousted from the White House by Biden. In 2020, about half of Biden’s backers said their vote for him was cast in opposition to Trump, and about half said their vote was for Biden. This year, roughly two-thirds of Harris voters said they were motivated to vote in favor of her. Only about one-third were voting in opposition to Trump.

Donald Trump on Wednesday won the battleground state of Georgia, the onetime Republican stronghold that had voted for Democrats four years ago, which along with his win in North Carolina narrowed Kamala Harris’ pathways to victory and expanded his routes to reaching the 270 electoral votes needed to become the next president. The victory left Harris heavily reliant on the “blue wall” of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to have a credible path to the White House. The crowd at Harris’ watch party at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington, began to file out after midnight. A top Harris ally sent supporters home from her rally, with no plans for the Democratic vice president to speak. “We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted. That every voice has spoken,” Cedric Richmond, co-chair of the Harris campaign said. “So you won’t hear from the vice president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow. She will be back here tomorrow.” Meanwhile, the Republican former president was set to address supporters early Wednesday from his campaign’s watch party in Florida. Trump also won Florida, a one-time battleground that has shifted heavily to Republicans in recent elections. He also notched early wins in reliably Republican states such as Texas, South Carolina and Indiana. Harris won Virginia, a state Trump visited in the final days of the campaign, and took Democratic strongholds like New York, New Mexico and California. Harris also won an Electoral College vote in Nebraska that was contested by Republicans. The Trump campaign bet that it would cut into Democrats' traditional strength with Black and Latino voters, with the former president going on male-centric podcasts and making explicit racial appeals to both groups. Nationally, Black and Latino voters appeared slightly less likely to support Harris than they were to back Joe Biden four years ago, and Trump’s support among those voters appeared to rise slightly compared to 2020, according to AP VoteCast. The fate of democracy appeared to be a primary driver for Harris’ supporters, a sign that the Democratic nominee’s persistent messaging in her campaign’s closing days accusing Trump of being a fascist may have broken through, according to the expansive survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide. It also found a country mired in negativity and desperate for change. Trump’s supporters were largely focused on immigration and inflation — two issues that the former Republican president has been hammering since the start of his campaign. In his recent visits to North Carolina, Trump seized on the heavy damage caused Hurricane Helene, spreading false claims about the federal government’s response and using GoFundMe to collect millions in donations for impacted residents. Trump initially trumpeted the Republican nominee for governor, Mark Robinson, and hailed him as “Martin Luther King on steroids,” but distanced himself after a CNN report that alleged Robinson had made explicit racial and sexual posts on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago. Robinson, who lost his race Tuesday to Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, denied writing the messages and sued CNN for defamation last month. In another positive sign for the GOP, the party took control of the Senate, with Trump-backed Bernie Moreno flipping a seat in Ohio held by Democrat Sherrod Brown since 2007. They picked up another when Republican Jim Justice won a West Virginia seat that opened up with Sen. Joe Manchin’s retirement. Those casting Election Day ballots mostly encountered a smooth process, with isolated reports of hiccups that regularly happen, including long lines, technical issues and ballot printing errors. Federal election security officials said there were minor disruptions throughout the day but there was no evidence of any impact to the election system. Officials determined that bomb threats that were reported in multiple states were all not credible and did not impact the ability of voters to cast their ballots. Harris, 60, would be the first woman, Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve as president. She also would be the first sitting vice president to win the White House in 36 years. Trump, 78, would be the oldest president ever elected. He would also be the first defeated president in 132 years to win another term in the White House, and the first person convicted of a felony to take over the Oval Office. He survived one assassination attempt by millimeters at a July rally. Secret Service agents foiled a second attempt in September. Harris, pointing to the warnings of Trump's former aides, has labeled him a “fascist” and blamed Trump for putting women's lives in danger by nominating three of the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. In the closing hours of the campaign, she tried to strike a more positive tone and went all of Monday without saying her Republican opponent's name. Voters nationwide also were deciding thousands of other races that will decide everything from control of Congress to state ballot measures on abortion access in response to the Supreme Court’s vote in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade. In Florida, a ballot measure that would have protected abortion rights in the state constitution failed after not meeting the 60% threshold to pass, marking the first time a measure protecting abortion rights failed since Roe was overturned. Earlier Tuesday, Trump refused to say how he voted on the measure and snapped at a reporter, saying, “You should stop talking about that." In reliably Democratic New York, Colorado and Maryland, voters approved ballot measures aimed at protecting abortion rights in their state constitutions.

Even with the outcome uncertain Tuesday night, the 2024 presidential election already has exposed the depths of a fractured nation as the candidates navigated political shifts based on class, race and age under the near-constant threat of misinformation and violence. Early data suggests that Republican Donald Trump may benefit from some of the shifts more than Democrat Kamala Harris. But not since the 1968 election, when the nation was torn over racial strife and the Vietnam war, have the divisions seemed so apparent. The biggest conclusions, however, so far may be the most obvious. The United States is poised to elect either its first female president in Harris or its first president with a felony conviction in former president Trump, whose enduring political strength through chaos — much of it his own making — has carried few political costs so far. With votes still being counted across the country, here are some early takeaways: There is a new battleground map and scrambled coalitions Black voters — men and women — have been the bedrock of the Democratic Party, and Democrats have had a strong pull for Latino voters. It's been the same with young voters. But preliminary data from AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of more than 115,000 voters nationwide, suggested that the groups shifted in Trump's direction. Voters under age 30 represent a fraction of the total electorate, but about half of them supported Harris. That’s compared to the roughly 6 in 10 who backed Biden in 2020. Slightly more than 4 in 10 young voters went for Trump, up from about one-third in 2020. Another shift that emerged was among Black and Latino voters, who appeared slightly less likely to support Harris than they were to back Biden four years ago, according to AP VoteCast. About 8 in 10 Black voters backed Harris, down from the roughly 9 in 10 who backed Biden. More than half of Hispanic voters supported Harris, but that was down slightly from the roughly 6 in 10 who backed Biden in 2020. Trump’s support among those groups appeared to rise slightly compared to 2020. Trump boasted throughout the fall that he would get more support from Black men and Latino men than he had before. Harris, meanwhile, went after more educated voters — including moderate Republicans — repelled by Trump. It may turn out that the Trump era is not a permanent realignment of the major party coalitions. But it’s clear that old coalitions and longstanding understandings of how to win the White House simply do not apply with Trump in the mix. A new president will take charge of a nation with deep fissures Whether Harris or Trump ends up behind the Resolute Desk, the 47th president will lead a nation with deepening political and cultural fissures and a worried electorate. AP VoteCast found that about 4 in 10 voters considered the economy and jobs the most important problem facing the country. Roughly 2 in 10 voters said the top issue is immigration, an anchor of Trump’s argument, and about 1 in 10 picked abortion, a pillar of Harris’ campaign. In a reminder of just how unusual this election has been, about 1 in 4 Trump voters said the assassination attempts against him were the most important factor in their vote. But when asked what most influenced their vote, about half of voters cited the future of democracy. That was higher than the share who answered the same way about inflation, immigration or abortion policy. And it crosses over the two major parties: About two-thirds of Harris voters and about a third of Trump voters said the future of democracy was the most important factor in their votes. That’s not surprising given the realities of the Trump era and the rhetoric of the campaign. Trump refused to acknowledge his 2020 defeat and watched his supporters ransack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress convened to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. Trump even mused two days before Election Day that he “shouldn’t have left” the White House after repeatedly promising retribution to his political enemies. Harris, by the end of the campaign, joined other critics — including some of Trump’s former White House chief of staff — in describing the former president as a “fascist.” Trump, meanwhile, labeled Harris a “fascist” and a “communist.” He then told voters that the multiple criminal prosecutions against him prove that Democrats are the true “threat to democracy” and in the final days of the campaign stepped up his debunked claims that U.S. elections are rigged against him. Questions about ‘election integrity’ persist — thanks to misinformation Trump spent the closing days of the election aggressively promoting baseless claims about the integrity of the election, insisting that would lose only if Democrats cheat. Not long after, he claimed on social media, without evidence, that there was “a lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia.” There is no credible information pointing to significant fraud in this election — or the last one, despite Trump's claims to the contrary. A broad coalition of top government and industry officials, many of them Republicans, found that the 2020 election was the “most secure” in American history." At the same time, a misinformation campaign promoting false instances of election fraud is spreading online. The FBI on Tuesday issued a statement highlighting two examples of its name and insignia being misused in election-related videos. One of them featured a fabricated press release alleges that the management of five prisons in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona rigged inmate voting and colluded with a political party. “This video is also not authentic, and its contents are false,” the FBI said. Mars and Venus: Abortion, ‘bro’ politics illuminate gender voting differences It was the first presidential election after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended a woman’s national right to terminate a pregnancy. It was also the first time that a Republican presidential candidate overly courted males with a hypermasculine approach. And it appears to have mattered. Both Harris’ and Trump’s advisers expected a historic “gender gap” between the two candidates, with women making up a clear majority of Harris’ supporters and men providing the clear majority of Trump’s total. AP VoteCast, meanwhile, found that about 1 in 10 voters said abortion is the top issue facing the country, reinforcing the newfound salience of an issue that barely registered for voters four years ago. About one-quarter of voters said that abortion policy was the single most important factor for their vote, while close to half said it was an important factor, but not the most important. To be sure, women have trended more Democratic in national politics for years, while men have trended more Republican. But the widening gap simply underscores how fractured the American electorate has become. The Year of Billionaires underscores the power of money in politics Elon Musk, one of the world’s wealthiest men, became Trump’s favorite campaign sidekick in the closing weeks. Musk relished the spotlight, as he has since he bought Twitter, changed its name to X and shaped the social media platform’s political identity toward his own. Musk plowed tens of millions of dollars — a fraction of his fortune — into a turnout operation intended to help Trump. The former president promised to make Musk a key part of his would-be second administration, potentially giving him sweeping control over federal regulations and bureaucracy. On the Democratic side, Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg each gave a pro-Harris super PAC $50 million, according to the New York Times.

Voters defeated a measure to add abortion rights to the Florida state constitution on Tuesday but sided with abortion-rights advocates on ballot measures in Colorado, Maryland and New York. Results were still pending in six other states with abortion measures on the ballot. Most voters supported the Florida measure, but it fell short of the required 60% to pass constitutional amendments in the state. Most states require a simple majority. The result was a political win for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that will keep in place the state’s ban on most abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy. It’s the first ballot measure victory for abortion opponents in any state since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, a decision that ended the nationwide right to abortion and opened the door to bans in most GOP-controlled states, protections in Democrat-dominated ones and new political and legal battles across the country. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America, said in a statement that the result is “a momentous victory for life in Florida and for our entire country,” praising DeSantis for leading the charge against the measure. DeSantis, a Republican with a national profile, has steered state GOP funds to the cause. His administration has weighed in, too, with a campaign against the measure, investigators questioning people who signed petitions to add it to the ballot and threats to TV stations that aired one commercial supporting it. The defeat makes permanent a shift in the Southern abortion landscape that began when the state’s six-week ban took effect in May. That removed Florida as a destination for abortion for many women from nearby states with deeper bans and also led to far more women from the state traveling to obtain abortion. The nearest states with looser restrictions are North Carolina and Virginia — hundreds of miles away. “The reality is because of Florida’s constitution a minority of Florida voters have decided Amendment 4 will not be adopted,” said Lauren Brenzel, campaign director for the Yes on 4 Campaign said while wiping away tears. “The reality is a majority of Floridians just voted to end Florida’s abortion ban.” In Maryland, the abortion rights amendment is a legal change that won’t make an immediate difference to abortion access in a state that already allows it. The Colorado measure exceeded the 55% of support required to pass. Besides enshrining access, it also undoes an earlier amendment that barred using state and local government funding for abortion, opening the possibility of state Medicaid and government employee insurance plans covering care. A New York equal rights law that abortion rights group say will bolster abortion rights also passed. It doesn’t contain the word “abortion” but rather bans discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.” Sasha Ahuja, campaign director of New Yorkers for Equal Rights, called the result “a monumental victory for all New Yorkers” and a vote against opponents who she says used misleading parental rights and anti-trans messages to thwart the measure. Florida result ends a win streak for abortion-rights advocates Until Tuesday, abortion rights advocates had prevailed on all seven measures that have appeared on statewide ballots since the fall of Roe. The abortion rights campaigns have a big fundraising advantage this year. Their opponents’ efforts are focused on portraying the amendments as too extreme rather than abortion as immoral. Currently, 13 states are enforcing bans at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Four more bar abortion in most cases after about six weeks of pregnancy — before women often realize they’re pregnant. Despite the bans, the number of monthly abortions in the U.S. has risen slightly, because of the growing use of abortion pills and organized efforts to help women travel for abortion. Still, advocates say the bans have reduced access, especially for lower-income and minority residents of the states with bans. The issue is resonating with voters. About one-fourth said abortion policy was the single most important factor for their vote, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide. Close to half said it was an important factor, but not the most important. Just over 1 in 10 said it was a minor factor. The outcomes of ballot initiatives that sought to overturn strict abortion bans in Florida and Missouri were very important to a majority of voters in the states. More than half of Florida voters identified the result of the amendment as very important, while roughly 6 in 10 of Missouri’s voters said the same, the survey found. The bans also are part of a key argument in the presidential race. Vice President Kamala Harris calls them “Trump abortion bans,” noting former President Donald Trump’s role in overturning Roe v. Wade. Harris, meanwhile, has portrayed herself as a direct, consistent advocate for reproductive health and rights, including Black maternal health. Trump has struggled to thread a divide between his own base of anti-abortion supporters and the majority of Americans who support abortion rights, leaning on his catch-all response that abortion rights should be left up to individual states. His shifting stances on reproductive rights include vowing in October to veto a national abortion ban, just weeks after the presidential debate when he repeatedly declined to say. Trump also has regularly taken credit for appointing three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade. After voting in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, Trump was asked twice how he voted on the abortion measure there — and didn’t answer directly. The first time he said he did “a great job bringing it back to the states.” The second time, he snapped at a reporter, saying “you should stop talking about that.” The measures could roll back bans in five states While the ballot questions have similar aims, each one occupies its own political circumstances. Nebraska has competing ballot measures. One would allow abortion further into pregnancy. The other would enshrine in the constitution the state’s current law, which bars most abortions after 12 weeks — but would allow for further restrictions. In South Dakota, the measure would allow some regulations related to the health of the woman after 12 weeks. Because of that wrinkle, most national abortion-rights groups are not supporting it. In some states, notably Missouri, passing amendments may not expand access immediately. Courts would be asked to invalidate the bans; and there could be legal battles over that. Clinics would need to staff up and get licenses. And some restrictions could remain in effect. Arizona, a battleground in the presidential election, bans abortion after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. The ballot measure there gained momentum after a state Supreme Court ruling in April found that the state could enforce a strict abortion ban adopted in 1864. Some GOP lawmakers joined with Democrats to repeal the law before it could be enforced. The measures would enshrine current access laws elsewhere Measures maintaining access also are on the ballot in Montana, where a U.S. Senate race could help determine control of the chamber, and Nevada, a battleground in the presidential election. In Nevada, where control of the state government is divided, the ballot measure would have to be passed this year and again in 2026 to take effect.

New Yorkers could play an outsized role Tuesday in determining control of the U.S. House as Republicans cling to suburban seats they won two years ago by seizing on fears of crime, and Democrats try to claw them back by warning that a right-wing Congress might ban abortion. If everything goes their way, Democrats hope to pick off a handful of Republican incumbents in congressional races on Long Island and in the Hudson River Valley, as well as a central New York district that state leaders recently reconfigured to make more favorable to Democrats. But the GOP could wind up holding all of that ground and has a chance of unseating one or two incumbent Democrats. Most of the tightest contests are happening in places where voters favored President Joe Biden over former President Donald Trump in 2020, but then sent a crop of Republicans to Congress two years later. The slew of competitive races underscore the hidden political complexity of New York, which is associated with Democrats like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez but has also given rise to Republican stars like U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, the chair of the House Republican Conference. Jeffries and Ocasio-Cortez won reelection on Tuesday. Stefanik is also heavily favored to hold on to her seat. On Long Island, Republican U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito is in a tough rematch with Democrat Laura Gillen, a former town supervisor he defeated in 2022, but who might do better with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket. In central New York, Republican Rep. Brandon Williams is trying to hold off a challenge from Democratic state Sen. John Mannion. Williams won his seat two years ago by a margin of only around 2,600 votes and this year his district was redrawn to exclude some rural areas where he had garnered support. In a trio of districts that include parts of the Hudson Valley, three incumbents — two freshman Republicans and a Democrat — are trying to hold on to seats they won by thin margins in the last election. On both sides, the strategy has been to play to moderate suburban voters while casting opponents as extremists. In 2022, Republicans in New York City's suburbs thrived with campaigns that portrayed the nearby city as having become lawless during the pandemic. Crime rates have dropped significantly since then, but Republicans have continued to press crime as an issue while also trying to capitalize on suburban unease about immigration policy and an influx of international migrants. Democrats have moved to mount a stronger defense to voters’ concerns about crime and immigration. They have also hammered Republicans on abortion — a tactic that didn't produce anticipated wins for the party two years ago in a state where abortion rights are not generally seen as under threat. Republican gains on Long Island were eroded last year when former U.S. Rep. George Santos was expelled from Congress after he was revealed to have fabricated his life story and defrauded campaign donors. Santos was replaced in a special election by Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, who is now running for reelection against Republican Mike LiPetri, a former state lawmaker. Further out on Long Island, Democrats have turned to former CNN anchor and author John Avlon in an effort to deny Republican U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota a second term. Three close contests are in districts that include parts of the Hudson Valley. In the suburbs north of New York City, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler faces former U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones, a Democrat who previously represented part of the district before its boundaries were redrawn for the 2022 election. Jones, one of the first two openly gay Black men to serve in the House, portrayed Lawler as someone who “masquerades as a moderate on television but votes just like an extreme MAGA Republican.” Lawler says Jones is the one masquerading as a centrist, when he is actually liberal. “People want reasonableness,” Lawler said in an interview before the election. “They want folks who are willing to work across the aisle to get things done.” The race got extra attention in early October when The New York Times obtained a photo showing Lawler wearing blackface in 2006 at a college Halloween party where he dressed as Michael Jackson. Lawler said the outfit was intended to be an homage to a childhood idol. Elsewhere in the Hudson Valley, Democratic U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan is locked in a tight race with Republican Alison Esposito, who has served in the New York Police Department and is running on a law-and-order platform. Esposito, if victorious, would be the first openly gay Republican woman to serve in Congress. Further north, Republican U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro is trying to hold off Democrat Josh Riley in a district that sprawls from New York’s border with Massachusetts across the Catskill Mountains and all the way to the Finger Lakes. The election is a rematch of 2022, when Molinaro narrowly defeated Riley. Molinaro has perhaps tacked harder to the right than his Republican colleagues in the state, most notably when he recently shared a social media post falsely claiming that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating house pets. In the one New York congressional race not involving an incumbent, Democrat George Latimer defeated Republican Dr. Miriam Levitt Flisser. Latimer had beaten U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman in a Democratic primary in June, making Bowman the first member of the progressive band of liberals known as the “Squad” to lose a reelection bid.

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris notched early wins in reliably Republican and Democratic states, respectively, as a divided America made its decision in a stark choice for the nation’s future Tuesday. Polls closed in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Nevada, the seven closely fought battlegrounds expected to decide the election, but the results there were too early to call. Balloting continued in the West on Election Day, as tens of millions of Americans added their ballots to the 84 million cast early as they chose between two candidates with drastically different temperaments and visions for the country. Trump won Florida, a one-time battleground that has shifted heavily to Republicans in recent elections. He also notched early wins in reliably Republican states such as Texas, South Carolina and Indiana, while Harris took Democratic strongholds like New York, Massachusetts and Illinois. The fate of democracy appeared to be a primary driver for Harris’ supporters, a sign that the Democratic nominee’s persistent messaging in her campaign’s closing days accusing Trump of being a fascist may have broken through, according to AP VoteCast. The expansive survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide also found a country mired in negativity and desperate for change. Trump’s supporters were largely focused on immigration and inflation — two issues that the former Republican president has been hammering since the start of his campaign. Those casting Election Day ballots mostly encountered a smooth process, with isolated reports of hiccups that regularly happen, including long lines, technical issues and ballot printing errors. Harris has promised to work across the aisle to tackle economic worries and other issues without radically departing from the course set by President Joe Biden. Trump has vowed to replace thousands of federal workers with loyalists, impose sweeping tariffs on allies and foes alike, and stage the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. Harris and Trump entered Election Day focused on seven swing states, five of them carried by Trump in 2016 before they flipped to Biden in 2020: the “blue wall” of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin as well as Arizona and Georgia. Nevada and North Carolina, which Democrats and Republicans respectively carried in the last two elections, also were closely contested. Trump voted in Palm Beach, Florida, near his Mar-a-Lago club. He called into a Wisconsin radio station Tuesday night to say: “I’m watching these results. So far so good." Harris, the Democratic vice president, did phone interviews with radio stations in the battleground states, then visited Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington carrying a box of Doritos — her go-to snack. “This truly represents the best of who we are,” Harris told a room of cheering staffers. She was handed a cellphone by supporters doing phone banking, and when asked by reporters how she was feeling, the vice president held up a phone and responded, “Gotta talk to voters.” The closeness of the race and the number of states in play raised the likelihood that, once again, a victor might not be known on election night. Trump said Tuesday that he had no plans to tell his supporters to refrain from violence if Harris wins, because they “are not violent people.” His angry supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after Trump tried to overturn his loss in 2020. Asked Tuesday about accepting the 2024 race’s results, he said, “If it’s a fair election, I’d be the first one to acknowledge it.” He visited a nearby campaign office to thank staffers before a party at a nearby convention center. After her DNC stop, Harris planned to attend a party at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington. Federal, state and local officials have expressed confidence in the integrity of the nation’s election systems. They nonetheless were braced to contend with what they say is an unprecedented level of foreign disinformation — particularly from Russia and Iran — as well as the possibility of physical violence or cyberattacks. In Georgia’s Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold that includes most of the city of Atlanta, 32 of the 177 polling places received bomb threats Tuesday, prompting brief evacuations at five locations, county Police Chief W. Wade Yates said. The threats were determined to be non-credible but voting hours were extended at those five locations. Bomb threats also forced an extension of voting hours in at least two Pennsylvania counties — Clearfield, in central Pennsylvania, and Chester, near Philadelphia. Both sides have armies of lawyers in anticipation of legal challenges on and after Election Day. And law enforcement agencies nationwide are on high alert for potential violence. Harris, 60, would be the first woman, Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve as president. She also would be the first sitting vice president to win the White House in 36 years. Trump, 78, would be the oldest president ever elected. He would also be the first defeated president in 132 years to win another term in the White House, and the first person convicted of a felony to take over the Oval Office. He survived one assassination attempt by millimeters at a July rally. Secret Service agents foiled a second attempt in September. Harris, pointing to the warnings of Trump's former aides, has labeled him a “fascist” and blamed Trump for putting women's lives in danger by nominating three of the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. In the closing hours of the campaign, she tried to strike a more positive tone and went all of Monday without saying her Republican opponent's name. Voters nationwide also were deciding thousands of other races that will decide everything from control of Congress to state ballot measures on abortion access in response to the Supreme Court’s vote in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade. In Florida, a ballot measure that would have protected abortion rights in the state constitution failed after not meeting the 60% threshold to pass, marking the first time a measure protecting abortion rights failed since Roe was overturned. Earlier Tuesday, Trump refused to say how he voted on the measure and snapped at a reporter, saying, “You should stop talking about that." In reliably Democratic New York and Maryland, voters approved ballot measures aimed at protecting abortion rights in their state constitutions. JD Jorgensen, an independent voter in Black Mountain, North Carolina, which was hit hard by Hurricane Helene, said voters should have made up their minds before Tuesday. “I think that the candidates, both being in the public eye as long as they both have been, if you’re on the fence, you hadn’t really been paying attention,” said Jorgensen, 35.