Donald J. Trump,
who ran an improbable and often ugly campaign against the
establishment, was holding on to small but significant leads in a series
of key battleground states on Tuesday night, upending months of polling
that had given the advantage to Hillary Clinton and raising Republican hopes of seizing back the White House.
Just
after 11:30 p.m, Mr. Trump was declared the victor in Florida, earning
him the state’s 29 electoral votes and giving him a more certain grip on
the presidential contest with Mrs. Clinton.
Reaction to the prospect of a Trump presidency rippled across the globe, with financial markets abroad falling
as American television networks raised the prospect that Mrs. Clinton
might lose. Asian markets were trading sharply lower, down around two
percentage points, and in the United States, Dow Jones futures were down
as much as 800 points in after-hours trading.
Several
hours after polls closed, the vote margins separating Mr. Trump and
Mrs. Clinton remained razor thin in states that will determine the
outcome of the presidential contest, with voters clearly demonstrating
the polarized nature of the American electorate.
But
Democratic hopes that Mrs. Clinton would easily defeat Mr. Trump
appeared to be crumbling as the Republican candidate’s bombastic style
seemed to be winning support among white, working-class and rural voters
across the country.
Campaign
advisers to Mrs. Clinton watched with increasing alarm on Tuesday night
as healthy leads that had been predicted in polling for much of the
past several months appeared to evaporate as votes were tallied. Mr.
Trump also won North Carolina and Ohio, and he was clinging to small
leads in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Mrs.
Clinton’s inability to secure an early knockout blow in the Southeast
means the contest will turn to the North. The vote count will proceed
much more slowly in states like Michigan and Wisconsin than it has in
Florida or North Carolina, so there is unlikely to be a quick decision
in either state.
After
Mr. Trump’s victories in North Carolina and Florida, he will have to
win one of three battleground states — Michigan, Wisconsin or
Pennsylvania — to win the election. His strength among white
working-class voters makes that a real possibility. Even if he falls
short, it will take a while to reach a decision.
In
another boost for Republicans in Florida, Senator Marco Rubio, a
onetime presidential hopeful, won re-election in a hard-fought contest
that could help thwart Democratic hopes to take over the Senate.
In
Georgia, a Southern state where Democrats had expressed hope for a
surprise victory for Mrs. Clinton, the race appeared too close to call
shortly after balloting ended.
A
race that was dominated by ugly, personal attacks appeared to have
taken a toll on voters, and the country’s mood appeared darker and more
pessimistic than it was four years ago, with about 60 percent of voters
saying the country was seriously on the wrong track. Voters said they
were eager for change in Washington, though they expressed dismay that
issues had been overlooked in the brutal, long and nasty campaign.
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