Election 2024 Updates: Trump Emerges With Slight Lead as Nation Waits for Battleground States

Updated November 5, 2024, at 9:47 p.m.

WASHINGTON — As the first polls closed on Tuesday, voters across the United States are anxiously waiting for the results of a long and polarizing presidential race which will decide whether Vice President Kamala Harris becomes the country’s first female president or Donald Trump wins back the White House for a second term.

After polls closed in 44 states, Trump gained a lead over Harris, winning 178 electoral votes from Wyoming, West Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, South Dakota, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio, Nebraska, North Dakota, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Indianna, Florida, Arkansas, and Alabama, while Harris gained 99 electoral college votes from Connecticut, Delaware, Illanois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

A number of swing states crucial to both candidate’s paths to victory — Georgia, Virginia, and North Carolina — remain too close to call.

Harris suddenly became the Democratic Party’s nominee for president in late July, when President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris. Biden faced weeks of pressure from fellow Democrats, including his own political allies, to drop out of the race after a disastrous debate performance against Trump.

In the months since Harris became the nominee, Democrats have grown more optimistic that she could defeat Trump in November even as the two candidates have been virtually tied in many polls ahead of Election Day.

Trump will attempt to return to the White House despite facing a series of legal challenges. The former president was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in New York state court. Though Trump has also been indicted three other times, including twice on federal charges, he would gain presidential immunity if he defeats Harris on Tuesday.

At the Harris watch party in Washington at Howard University, a historically Black college and Harris’ alma mater, students lined up for more than three hours to get a chance at entering the event.

As attendees waited in line, many Harris supporters pumped their fists and chanted “Not going back.”

Leah A. Thompson, a freshman at Howard University, said in an interview that it felt like she was “at the center of something very important.”

Thompson, along with many other Howard students expressed excitement over the possibility of electing the first Black female president.

“I’m really excited because it’s somebody that looks like me, sounds like me, talks like me, doing something very, very cool,” Thompson said. “She’s living out our dreams.”

For several Howard students, the election was not just about electing the next U.S. president — it was about defining the future of the country.

“It was always a battle for the soul of the nation,” said Garrison B. Andrews, a freshman at Howard.

At Harvard University, students and faculty members were closely watching results trickle in at several election night watch parties on campus. Hundreds of students packed Sanders Theatre for an event co-hosted by the Dean of Students Office, the Institute of Politics, and Harvard College Intellectual Vitality.

“It feels a little more surreal,” said Hyunsoo Lee ‘28, who attended the Sanders watch party.

Lee expressed concern about the outcome of the election — regardless of who wins.

“There’s definitely a lot of anxiety around who's going to win such a close race, and especially because it's a big election,” Lee said. “I'm a little worried that whoever wins, at the end of the day, there's going to be some opposition to it, just because of how divided the election is going to be.”

Fellow event attendee Benjamin A. Abbott ’28 expressed feeling calm as he watched election coverage.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Abbott said. “I care about it, but there’s not much I can do about it.”

Many students expressed excitement as they watched the results come in with their friends in the crowded theater.

“I’m just so grateful that in my first year here, I get the chance to experience such an amazing event,” said Prisha Sheth ’28.

“We’re all together as we watch this historic moment,” Sheth said.

Sanders Theater is currently at capacity and students are being turned away at the door.

The Harvard Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine, hosted their own viewing party, installing a large, inflatable screen outside their front door where they projected live election coverage.

In Massachusetts, where polls closed at 8 p.m., Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) easily won reelection in the deep blue state. However, residents also voted on several contentious ballot questions that could have a major impact on the commonwealth.

Cambridge resident Fen Portman expressed concern about Trump’s past experience running a company.

“When you’re a CEO, you're in charge, and you often don’t even have to report to a board of directors,” Portman said. “But in a democracy, you’re part of a larger system, and there’s lots of checks and balances.”

Jeffrey Richards said in an interview from a polling site at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School that he thought Trump winning back the White House would be bad for the country.

“If Trump wins, chaos,” Richards said.

—Diego Garcia-Moreno, Ryan A. Lopez, and Mana Tsuruta contributed reporting from Cambridge.

—Staff writer Samuel A. Church reported from Cambridge. He can be reached at samuel.church@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @samuelachurch.

—Staff writer Grace E. Yoon reported from Cambridge. She can be reached at grace.yoon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @graceunkyoon.

—Staff writer Frank S. Zhou reported from Washington. He can be reached at frank.zhou@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @frank_s_zhou or on Threads @frank_s_zhou.