Why AP called Florida for Trump

WASHINGTON. THANK YOU SO MUCH. WE’LL BE CHECKING IN BACK WITH HER IN A LITTLE WHILE. MEANWHILE, FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP IS IN FLORIDA AT THIS HOUR TO WATCH THE RETURNS COME IN. WESH 2’S SANIKA DANGE IS LIVE AT TRUMP HEADQUARTERS IN WEST PALM BEACH, WHERE TRUMP IS TONIGHT. SANIKA. WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT THERE? SINCE WE LAST CHECKED IN WITH YOU AS SOME OF THESE RESULTS START TO ROLL IN. SO WE JUST DROVE TWO HOURS. WELL, WE JUST RECEIVED SOME BREAKING NEWS. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HAS CALLED FLORIDA FOR THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN. AND AS THAT ANNOUNCEMENT WAS MADE HERE, WE DID HEAR AN ERUPTION OF CHEERS FROM THIS CROWD AT THE PALM BEACH COUNTY CONVENTION CENTER. THIS IS THE OFFICIAL WATCH PARTY FOR THE CAMPAIGN, AND I CAN TELL YOU, I’VE NEVER SEEN A CROWD LIKE THIS. IN FACT, I COVERED HIS CAMPAIGN BACK IN 2016 AT MAR A LAGO, WHERE IT WAS HELD AT THE TIME, AND I CAN COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THE SHIFT FROM MAR-A-LAGO TO THE PALM BEACH COUNTY CONVENTION CENTER FOR THE WATCH PARTY. SHEER NUMBERS ALONE WILL TELL YOU MEDIA STAGGERING THE POLICE PRESENCE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT PRESENCE IS STAGGERING, AND WE ARE STILL SEEING MORE SUPPORTERS FILE THROUGH HERE IN A VERY CELEBRATORY MANNER. THE BAR IS OPEN AND THEY’RE HAVING A GOOD TIME. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP IS WATCHING THE RESULTS ROLL IN HIMSELF 15 MINUTES AWAY AT HIS RESIDENCE AT MAR A LAGO, AND WE ARE EXPECTING TO HEAR FROM HIM AT SOME POINT. THIS EVENING. WHILE TRUMP HAS SPENT MOST OF THE EVENING ON HIS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM TRUTH SOCIAL, JUST URGING VOTERS TO HEAD OUT TO THE POLLS, IT ALSO DIDN’T TAKE LONG FOR HIM TO POST ABOUT ALLEGATIONS OF MASSIVE CHEATING IN PHILADELPHIA, EVEN HOURS BEFORE THE POLLS CLOSED, PENNSYLVANIA OF COURSE, A VERY KEY STATE IN THIS RACE. ANOTHER KEY STATE IS MICHIGAN, WHERE TRUMP IS ALSO MAKING ALLEGATIONS. THIS IS SUCH A KEY AREA FOR HIM. IT’S WHERE HE ACTUALLY WRAPPED UP HIS CAMPAIGN LAST NIGHT, OR I SHOULD SAY VERY EARLY THIS MORNING. HE TOOK THE STAGE A FEW HOURS AFTER HE WAS EXPECTED TO THERE IN GRAND RAPIDS, JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT, AND SPOKE UNTIL 2:00 IN THE MORNING BEFORE HE THEN FLEW BACK HOME HERE TO FLORIDA. HE ACTUALLY ENDED HIS 2016 AND 2020 CAMPAIGNS THERE IN GRAND RAPIDS AS WELL. THAT’S HOW IMPORTANT OF A CITY AND STATE THAT IS FOR HIM. WE ARE EXPECTING THE FORMER PRESIDENT TO SPEAK AT SOME POINT HERE ON THIS STAGE. HIS MOTORCADE IS EXPECTED TO LEAVE MAR A LAGO AROUND 10:00. BUT OF COURSE, WE WILL KEEP YOU UPDATED IN THE MEANTIME, AS WE JUST MENTIONED, BREAKING NEWS FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. FLORIDA HAS JUST BEEN CALLED FOR TRUMP. REPORTING LIVE I

A strong across-the-board showing by Donald Trump helped propel the Republican former president to victory in Florida, once a preeminent swing state that has increasingly slipped out of Democrats' grasp. Exhibit A: Trump was on track to win the longtime Democratic stronghold of Miami-Dade County when The Associated Press called the race at 8:01 p.m. ET.Trump not only improved on his 2020 performance in Republican areas of the state. He made inroads with voters in Florida's battleground areas and was on pace to outperform Vice President Kamala Harris in areas considered to be moderately Democratic. Trump led Harris by 11 percentage points with about 80% of the expected vote report when the race was called.But his lead in Miami-Dade County was perhaps the most surprising — and the most dispiriting for Democrats. It's been decades since a Republican presidential contender carried the county, which Joe Biden won by by roughly 7 percentage points four years ago.Over 81% of the vote had been counted in Florida when the AP called the race. Harris would have needed to get 73% of the outstanding vote left to be counted in order to overtake Trump's lead.CANDIDATES: President: Harris (D) vs. Trump (R) vs. Claudia De la Cruz ( Socialism and Liberation) vs. Chase Oliver (Libertarian) vs. Peter Sonski (American Solidarity) vs. Jill Stein (Green) vs. Randall Terry (Constitution).WINNER: TrumpPOLL CLOSING TIME: 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET. Florida covers two time zones.ABOUT THE RACE: The last time Florida swung for a Democratic presidential candidate was over a decade ago, when Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney by less than a percentage point. Voters in the state haven't looked back.Once a pivotal battleground, Florida's political DNA has been altered by organizational stumbles by Democrats along with demographic shifts. That culminated in Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' nearly 20-point landslide win in 2022, when he clinched the longtime Democratic stronghold of Miami-Dade County.It's not just conservative seniors leaving the north to live out their golden years in the sunshine state who have rewired Florida's politics. Immigrants fleeing a despotic Venezuelan government have been welcomed by the Republican Party, just as Cuban exiles — reliable GOP voters — were more than a generation ago.Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has struggled with candidate recruitment and money woes. Democrats also incorrectly assumed that younger generations of Cuban Americans would naturally gravitate toward the party — a prediction that hasn't panned out. Combine all that with the fact that that advertising in the sprawling state, with has nearly a dozen different media markets, is just so dang expensive, Democrats have effectively been cast into into the political wilderness — er, Everglades.Consider this: Young voters who will cast their first ballot this year weren't alive when the state was the epicenter of political drama during the 2000 presidential election, when disputes over "hanging chads" and miscounted ballots made their way to the Supreme Court, which sealed George W. Bush's 537-vote win over Democrat Al Gore.The state is a considerable prize in presidential races, offering the winner 30 electoral votes.WHY AP CALLED THE RACE: The AP determined that Harris had no mathematical path to victory given Trump's massive lead and the amount of outstanding vote.

Trump not only improved on his 2020 performance in Republican areas of the state. He made inroads with voters in Florida's battleground areas and was on pace to outperform Vice President Kamala Harris in areas considered to be moderately Democratic. Trump led Harris by 11 percentage points with about 80% of the expected vote report when the race was called.

But his lead in Miami-Dade County was perhaps the most surprising — and the most dispiriting for Democrats. It's been decades since a Republican presidential contender carried the county, which Joe Biden won by by roughly 7 percentage points four years ago.

Over 81% of the vote had been counted in Florida when the AP called the race. Harris would have needed to get 73% of the outstanding vote left to be counted in order to overtake Trump's lead.

CANDIDATES: President: Harris (D) vs. Trump (R) vs. Claudia De la Cruz ( Socialism and Liberation) vs. Chase Oliver (Libertarian) vs. Peter Sonski (American Solidarity) vs. Jill Stein (Green) vs. Randall Terry (Constitution).

WINNER: Trump

POLL CLOSING TIME: 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET. Florida covers two time zones.

ABOUT THE RACE: The last time Florida swung for a Democratic presidential candidate was over a decade ago, when Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney by less than a percentage point. Voters in the state haven't looked back.

Once a pivotal battleground, Florida's political DNA has been altered by organizational stumbles by Democrats along with demographic shifts. That culminated in Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' nearly 20-point landslide win in 2022, when he clinched the longtime Democratic stronghold of Miami-Dade County.

It's not just conservative seniors leaving the north to live out their golden years in the sunshine state who have rewired Florida's politics. Immigrants fleeing a despotic Venezuelan government have been welcomed by the Republican Party, just as Cuban exiles — reliable GOP voters — were more than a generation ago.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has struggled with candidate recruitment and money woes. Democrats also incorrectly assumed that younger generations of Cuban Americans would naturally gravitate toward the party — a prediction that hasn't panned out. Combine all that with the fact that that advertising in the sprawling state, with has nearly a dozen different media markets, is just so dang expensive, Democrats have effectively been cast into into the political wilderness — er, Everglades.

Consider this: Young voters who will cast their first ballot this year weren't alive when the state was the epicenter of political drama during the 2000 presidential election, when disputes over "hanging chads" and miscounted ballots made their way to the Supreme Court, which sealed George W. Bush's 537-vote win over Democrat Al Gore.

The state is a considerable prize in presidential races, offering the winner 30 electoral votes.

WHY AP CALLED THE RACE: The AP determined that Harris had no mathematical path to victory given Trump's massive lead and the amount of outstanding vote.

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