Trump Takes Florida, Projected To Win Presidency: Latest Updates

Updated, 10:45 a.m. Wednesday

FLORIDA — Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, hours after he won Florida for the third consecutive election and earned the state's crucial 30 electoral votes, according to projections.

Trump won 6,099,686 votes in Florida, 56.1% of the ballots, to 43.0% or 4,669,481 votes for Kamala Harris, the Florida Division of Elections said.

Many Trump voters cited immigration, border security and the economy as top motivators when they went to the polls.

Cesar Grajales, a Republican political analyst, told the Miami Herald that many South Florida immigrants who fled political and social instability in their homelands supported Trump because of the situation at the border and the arrival of criminals gangs in the U.S.

“People don’t want to live that situation again, and they see in Trump a strong character, and feel that with him they will have that security with him,” Grajales said.

The win marks an extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts.

With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.

Once a crucial battleground state, Florida has drifted toward the Republican Party in recent years. A Democratic presidential nominee has not won the state since Barack Obama in 2012.

The Associated Press called the race for Trump at 8:01 p.m. Tuesday, a minute after the final polls closed in Florida.

"I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president," Trump told throngs of cheering supporters in Florida even before his victory was confirmed. "We've been through so much together, and today you showed up in record numbers to deliver a victory. This was something special and we're going to pay you back."

At least one Florida Democrat expressed feelings of fear following Trump's projected win as well as the failure of Amendment 4, which would have enshrined abortion rights and access into the state's constitution.

"In 2016 I woke up in tears. Today I woke up angry and ready to protect our communities and U.S. Constitution," Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani wrote on X. "This is not a repeat of 2016, it’s worse. Be ready to fight back."

The following preliminary statewide results are updated as of 9:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Results in the election remain unofficial until certified.

Nearly a month after a disastrous debate performance against Trump had Democrats concerned about their prospects in the general election, President Joe Biden said July 21 he would not seek reelection. He endorsed Harris as the party's nominee, and she claimed the party’s nomination at the August convention in Milwaukee, along with running-mate Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.

The campaign season was marred by two assassination attempts against Trump.

Trump on July 13 was the target of an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The accused shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed, along with a spectator, while two others were injured.

The second assassination attempt came Sept. 15 while the former president was playing golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. He was not hurt. The accused attacker, Ryan Wesley Routh, faces federal gun charges in the case.

On Oct. 12, local law enforcement said a man with firearms outside a Trump rally in Coachella Valley, California, was a threat. However, the man told a local newspaper group he was a Trump supporter.

Campaign Sprint, Contrasting Messages

Trump and Harris spent the closing weeks of the campaign battling over issues such as the economy, abortion access, and foreign policy while appealing to different demographic groups.

On Oct. 29 with just a week to go until the election, Harris delivered what her campaign billed as her “closing argument” from the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. — the same site where Trump spoke to his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, before they stormed the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

In her speech, Harris sought to remind voters what life was like under Trump and then offered them a different path forward if they sent her to the White House.

“I’ll be honest with you: I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. But here’s what I promise you: I will always listen to you, even if you don’t vote for me,” she said.

Days earlier, a Trump rally on Oct. 27 at Madison Square Garden featured speakers that required his campaign to rebut criticism. An opening comedian described Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage” and reiterated a racist trope about Black people and watermelon, the New York Times said. A spokesman said the comments didn’t reflect Trump’s views.

But given the opportunity to apologize at multiple events and in interviews, Trump instead leaned in. Speaking at his South Florida resort, he said that “there’s never been an event so beautiful” as his New York City rally.

“The love in that room. It was breathtaking,” he said. “It was like a lovefest, an absolute lovefest. And it was my honor to be involved.”

Trump also claimed he didn’t know Tony Hinchcliffe, the comedian who made the disparaging comments about Puerto Rico.

“I don’t know him, someone put him up there. I don’t know who he is,” he told ABC News.

Harris previously countered that the remarks were proof of the former president’s “hate and division and that’s why people are exhausted with him.” She also pummeled him with the label of fascist, after Trump’s former chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly, described him in those terms.

Critics argue Trump’s discussion of deploying the military to target political opponents, including people he has labeled the “enemy from within” is fascism. He has long talked about attacking his enemies and declared to his supporters that he would be their “retribution.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.