Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump entered the final hours of Tuesday’s presidential election uncertain of the outcome after a bruising battle that divided Americans along social, racial, economic and cultural lines.
In addition to the White House, control of both chambers of Congress hung in the balance as the first polls began to close in parts of the country.
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As a result, it was unclear Tuesday night which party would emerge with more power to shape — or stop — policies affecting virtually every aspect of Americans’ lives, from taxes to abortion and from immigration to federal aid.
The two presidential candidates’ supporters split over the main issues facing the country on Election Day, differences that, in part, reflected where the candidates put their focus.
In early NBC exit polling, most Harris voters rated democracy as their top issue, while most Trump voters said the economy mattered most to them. In all, 35% of voters placed democracy at the top of their list, while 31% said the economy and 14% said abortion.
Fifty-six percent of Harris voters put democracy first, while 21% named abortion as their highest priority and 13%picked the economy. Fifty-one percent of Trump voters saw the economy as the biggest issue, 20% named immigration and 12% said democracy.
Harris promised that she would restore abortion rights that were left vulnerable to restrictions by the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. Trump said abortion decisions belong in the hands of states, where they now reside, but that he favors bans that exempt cases of rape, incest and endangerment to the life of the mother.
In a sign of how the politics of abortion have shifted now that states are able to impose more limits, more Trump voters think abortion should be legal now than they did in 2020, according to the early exit polls. Back then, 26% of Trump voters said abortion should be illegal. On Tuesday, that number was 38%.
Overall, 51% of voters said in 2020 that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. But now, 66% say that. At the same time, the percentage of voters who believe abortion should be illegal in all cases dropped from 17% in 2020 to 6% this year.
Harris’ easiest path to winning 270 electoral votes — and becoming the first woman elected president — runs through the “Blue Wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, along with Nebraska’s 2nd congressional district. Trump, who would become the first defeated president to reclaim the White House since Grover Cleveland in 1892, would hit the magic number by taking Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Trump planned to gather family, friends and staff at Mar-a-Lago, his resort in West Palm Beach, Florida, to monitor returns. If he speaks publicly Tuesday night, his remarks are likely to be delivered at a nearby convention center.
Harris is expected to convene a similar retinue of people close to her at the vice presidential residence for dinner at Washington’s Naval Observatory and travel to Howard University, her alma mater, to address supporters later in the night.
Both candidates and their campaigns expressed confidence in the closing days that they were on track to win.
“The momentum is on our side,” Harris said at her final rally, in Philadelphia, Monday night.
“I think we’re going to have a very big victory today,” Trump said as he cast his ballot in West Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday afternoon.
Despite their sense of success, 72% of voters said in NBC News exit polls that they are either angry or dissatisfied with the state of the country, with only 26% reporting that they are satisfied or enthusiastic about it.
Along with the rest of the country, Trump and Harris must now await the judgment of voters in the seven swing states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada — to find out who is right. It is not yet clear how long it will take for those states to count their ballots and for the results of the election to be determined.
There were signs of demographic shifts in the electorate in the early exit polls. Trump’s popularity waned with white voters while it ticked up with Black and Latino voters. In 2020, 57% of white voters viewed Trump favorably, as did 38%of Latino voters and 10% of Black voters. This year, only 49% of white voters said they saw Trump favorably, while his numbers with Latino and Black voters rose to 42% and 14%, respectively.
Polls are due to begin closing in parts of Kentucky at 6 p.m. ET, with that state and several others, including Georgia — one of seven major presidential battlegrounds — wrapping up voting at 7 p.m.
In the other battlegrounds, all polls close by 7:30 p.m. in North Carolina; 8 p.m. in Pennsylvania; 9 p.m. in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin; and 10 p.m. in Nevada.
Swing state voters have been inundated with billions of dollars in advertising between the campaigns of the two presidential candidates, Senate and House hopefuls, and outside groups determined to affect the balance of power in Washington.
Senate Democrats held a two-seat edge, 51 to 49, heading into Tuesday, but Republican Gov. Jim Justice is heavily favored to defeat his Democratic opponent in a seat being left open by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. Republicans were also favored to beat Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., according to the non-partisan Cook Political Report.
Senate Democrats are also playing defense in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Maryland.
In the House, Republicans held a four-seat advantage. The Cook Report favored Democrats to take four seats — one in Alabama, two in New York and one in Nebraska — from Republican hands. But one Democratic-held seat in Michigan leaned toward the GOP, according to the Cook report, which rated 12 Republican-held seats and 10 Democratic-held seats as toss-ups.
