2020 Latest: McConnell Says It'll Take While To Count Votes
2020 Latest: McConnell Says It'll Take While To Count Votes
The Latest on the presidential campaign (all times local):

WASHINGTON: The Latest on the presidential campaign (all times local):

1:24 p.m.

President Donald Trump has won one of Maines four electoral votes, just as he did in 2016.

Trump carried the states 2nd Congressional District, the more rural and conservative of Maines congressional districts.

While Democrat Joe Biden easily carried the state itself, Maine is one of only two states that divides its electoral votes.

Biden won the 1st Congressional District and the statewide tally, good for three electoral votes. Trumps victory in the 2nd Congressional District means he wins one electoral vote.

Maine split its electoral votes four years ago, awarding three to Democrat Hillary Clinton and one to Trump.

2016 marked the first time in state history that Maine divided its electoral votes.

In the race to the 270 electoral votes needed to win, Biden has 238 while Trump has 214.

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HERES WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE:

The fate of the presidency hangs in the balance as President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden battle for three familiar battleground states Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania that could prove crucial in determining who wins the White House. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

Read more:

EXPLAINING RACE CALLS: Presidential race too early to call

Presidency hinges on tight races in battleground states

Democrats losing paths to Senate control as GOP hangs on

AP VoteCast: Voters favor Biden on virus, Trump on economy

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON:

12:45 p.m.

President Donald Trumps campaign manager Bill Stepien says the president plans to immediately request a recount in the battleground state of Wisconsin, where the race remains close.

In Wisconsin, if a race is within 1 percentage point, the trailing candidate can force a recount.

Stepien says in a statement Wednesday: The President is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so.

The fate of the United States presidency is hanging in the balance, with Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, battling for three familiar battleground states Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania that could prove crucial in determining who wins the White House.

In the race to the 270 electoral votes needed to win, Biden has 238 while Trump has 213.

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12:10 p.m.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is discounting President Donald Trumps early claim that hed already won the election, saying its going to take a while for states to conduct their vote counts.

The Kentucky Republican and Trump ally said Wednesday that claiming youve won the election is different from finishing the counting.

McConnell also says he is untroubled by Trumps vows to contest the vote count in key states, telling reporters in Louisville that you should not be shocked that both sides are going to have lawyers there.

He added that the courts will decide disputes. Thats the way we do it in this country.

Early Wednesday, Trump said, We will win this, and as far as Im concerned we already have won it.

But the outcome is still unclear in key states Trump would need if he is to win against Democrat Joe Biden.

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4 a.m.

Democrat Joe Bidens campaign says it will fight any efforts by President Donald Trumps campaign to go to the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent ballots from being tabulated.

In a statement sent before 4 a.m. Wednesday, Biden campaign manager Jen OMalley Dillon called Trumps statement that he will be going to the U.S. Supreme Court and that he wants all voting to stop outrageous, unprecedented and incorrect.

OMalley Dillon says the Biden campaign has legal teams standing by ready to deploy to resist that effort. And she says, They will prevail.

The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the presidential race. There are still hundreds of thousands of votes left to be counted, and the outcome hinges on a handful of uncalled battleground states.

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3:06 a.m.

Democrat Joe Biden has won at least three of Maines four electoral votes in his bid to unseat President Donald Trump.

Biden won the statewide tally and the 1st Congressional District, good for three electoral votes. Trump, meanwhile, hoped to claim one electoral vote in a win in the 2nd Congressional District. The 2nd Congressional District hasnt yet been called.

Maine split its electoral votes four years ago, awarding three to Democrat Hillary Clinton and one to Trump, who won the more rural and conservative of Maines congressional districts.

It marked the first time in state history that Maine divided its electoral votes.

Maine is one of only two states that divides its electoral votes. The other is Nebraska.

In the race to the 270 electoral votes needed to win, Biden has 238 while Trump has 213.

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2:52 a.m.

Democrat Joe Biden has won Arizona and its 11 electoral votes, flipping a critical battleground state that Donald Trump won four years ago and that could help determine which candidate wins the presidency.

The victory by Biden was a huge blow to Trumps chances for reelection. Arizona has backed a Democratic presidential candidate only once in the last 72 years.

Bidens campaign had focused on Arizona as part of its expanded battleground map through the Sun Belt, citing demographic changes, new residents and realignment away from Republicans among key suburban voters.

Arizona is among the more than half a dozen states that will help determine which candidate gets the 270 electoral votes to capture the White House.

Bidens massive advantage in campaign cash allowed him to put Trump on defense across the country and work to build an unstoppable lead in the Electoral College.

In the race to 270 electoral votes, Biden has 236, while Trump has 213.

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2:40 a.m.

President Donald Trump is vowing to ask the Supreme Court to weigh in on the inconclusive election. The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the presidential race.

Trump appeared before supporters at the White House early Wednesday morning and cried foul over the election results, calling the process a major fraud on our nation. But theres no evidence of foul play in the cliffhanger.

The night ended with hundreds of thousands of votes still to be counted, and the outcome still unclear in key states he needs if he is to win against Democrat Joe Biden.

Nevertheless, he has cast the night as a disenfranchisement of his voters. He said: We will win this and as far as Im concerned we already have won it.

Trump says: Well be going to the U.S. Supreme Court we want all voting to stop. In fact, there is no more voting just counting.

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1:27 a.m.

President Donald Trump has won four of Nebraskas five electoral votes, while Democrat Joe Biden has won one electoral vote from the state.

The 1st Congressional District was called for Trump early Wednesday. He also won the 3rd Congressional District earlier, as well as the statewide vote. Trump gets one electoral vote for each congressional district, plus two electoral votes for winning the statewide vote.

Bidens win in the 2nd Congressional District, which includes Omaha, is a flip from 2016, when Trump narrowly won it against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

While Trump easily carried the state itself, Nebraska is one of only two states that divides its electoral votes.

In 2016, Trump won all five of Nebraskas electoral votes.

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1:22 a.m.

Democrat Joe Biden has won Nebraskas 2nd Congressional District, which includes Omaha. That flips a district that Donald Trump won in 2016.

Nebraska, one of two states that divides its electoral votes, has five total electoral votes up for grabs. On Tuesday, Trump won the statewide vote, which is good for two electoral votes. He also won the 3rd Congressional District, which nets him a third vote.

Biden earns one electoral vote for winning Nebraskas 2nd Congressional District. Nebraskas 1st Congressional District hasnt yet been called.

In 2016, Trump narrowly won Nebraskas 2nd Congressional District over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

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1:12 a.m.

Twitter is hiding an election-related post by President Donald Trump, warning that its content is disputed and could be misleading.

Trump stated without evidence early Wednesday that Democrats were trying to steal the election. He also falsely said votes cannot be cast after polls are closed.

States allow voters to cast ballots if they are in line when polls close. Some states also allow mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day but received later to be counted.

Trumps tweet came after his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, delivered remarks as the race was too early to call in key battleground states.

Biden told his supporters to be patient while all the votes are counted.

Twitter says placing a warning on the tweet is in line with its Civic Integrity Policy. The tweet is still visible after clicking through the warning.

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1:06 a.m.

President Donald Trump has won Texas and its 38 electoral votes despite a furious, late push by Democrats to turn Americas biggest red state blue.

An avalanche of early votes fed Democrats high hopes of ending decades of losses in Texas, where polls showed Joe Biden running unusually close. But Trump carried Texas for a second straight year.

Trump won Texas by 9 percentage points in 2016 and all but took a win here for granted. He didnt swing through Texas for campaign rallies or swamp television airwaves, and his conservative allies on the ground scoffed at Bidens chances as a far reach.

Trump sought to make an issue out of Bidens answer during their final presidential debate that Biden would transition away from the oil industry if elected president. Texas is among the swing states with voters who depend on the oil industry to make a living.

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12:51 a.m.

Joe Biden is asking his supporters to keep the faith and urging them to be patient as the counting goes on in the drawn-out U.S. presidential election.

The Democratic presidential candidate emerged Wednesday after midnight to speak on the election results that have left the outcome in the balance. He spent the evening watching the returns come in from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, then drove downtown by motorcade to make his statement outside the Chase Center.

He told a gathering of supporters that his hopes for victory remain high despite the uncertainty and cautioned them that it could take a day or longer to know who won.

He told them: Your patience is commendable.

Hours after the polls have closed across America, however, the result is up in the air.

A number of key states still have hundreds of thousands of ballots outstanding, after a large influx of mail ballots have slowed down the count in states across the nation.

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12:35 a.m.

President Donald Trump has won Florida and its 29 electoral votes, the biggest prize among the perennial battlegrounds and a state crucial to his reelection hopes.

A victory in Florida means reelection is within Trumps grasp. A loss in the state would have made it nearly impossible for Trump to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to retain the White House.

Democrat Joe Bidens campaign had hoped the devastating toll of the coronavirus pandemic, particularly among older adults, would put him in a strong position in a state popular with retirees.

Trump moved his official residence to his Palm Beach estate Mar-a-Lago from New York last year.

Trump narrowly beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in the state in 2016.

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Find APs full election coverage at APNews.com/Election2020.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

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