In a Nail Biting Finish, The Donald Trumps Clinton

Zacheaus Somorin in Washington D.C. with agency report

Defying the odds, the attacks, the scandals, the polls, sections of his own party, and even his own demons, Donald John Trump, the Republican Party candidate, according to THISDAY projections, will make history today with his decisive victory over his rival Hillary Clinton of the Democratic Party, in an extremely close race in the U.S. presidential election to emerge the 45th president of the United States of America.

Based on projections, Trump is expected to win the US States of Pennsylvania (20 Electoral College votes), Arizona (Electoral College votes) and Michigan (16 Electoral College cotes), which should push him to 301 Electoral College votes. A presidential candidate must win 270 Electoral College votes to become the president of the US.

As of press time, Trump already had a lead in the popular vote with 55,144,484 votes cast in his favour, compared with 53,979,258 votes for Clinton. However, in a reenactment of the 2000 election, Clinton could still win the popular vote by the time all the votes from California are counted.

Other states won by Trump included the Republican strongholds of Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, South Carolina, Alabama, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, North Dakota, Idaho, Georgia, South Dakota, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana, Utah, Arizona and Missouri

He also won the critical swing states of Florida, Iowa and Ohio, and more importantly redrew the electoral map, when he flipped what used to be the traditionally Democratic state of Wisconsin. Adding to his booty, Trump also won the battleground states of North Carolina.

But as the election results poured in and his path to victory became more certain, the markets, which have always been averse to uncertainty, got jittery. The Mexican Peso plunged by several percentage points, while the Dow Jones Futures fell by 468 points (-2.56 per cent0.

Similarly, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Futures Indexes all declined precipitously by 68,50 points (-3.21 per cent) and 134.5 points (-2.8 per cent).

Asian markets also tumbled led by the Nasdaq, after trading opening this morning, the Associated Press reported.

Earlier tuesday before the polls had closed in several of the states in the US, a Nevada court judge tuesday forcefully denied a request from Trump’s campaign team to direct a county registrar of voters to preserve and segregate ballots from voting machines in four early voting sites in the Las Vegas area where Latino voters showed up in record numbers.

The Trump campaign said Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria kept polling locations open two hours beyond their designated closing times.

Clark County saw its record for single-day early vote turnout shattered Friday when 57,174 people cast their ballots, according to data from the Nevada secretary of state’s office, as Hillary Clinton and Democrats sought to build up a prohibitive advantage over Trump before Tuesday in the key state.

Trump’s lawyers asked for an order to have the pertinent early vote ballots — those cast after the designated polling hours Friday — not to be “co-mingled or interspersed” with other ballots, reported CNN.

But Judge Gloria Sturman of the District Court for Clark County Nevada, ruled from the bench, saying Gloria was already obligated by state law to maintain the records that the Trump campaign was seeking.

“I can’t obligate him to do something he is already obligated to do,” Sturman said, later adding, “This is Election Day. He has other things to be doing.”

Dan Kulin, a spokesperson for the county, told CNN that no early voting stations extended their closing times. They did, however, process voters who were in line at closing time to allow as many people to vote as possible.

The new president-elect, who will be sworn in on January 20, 2017, will be making history as the first person to lead the US without any political experience.

Considered a political outsider, Trump has pulled off a victory similar to the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, signifying complete dissatisfaction by the American electorate with uncontrolled immigration, trade deals that have robbed thousands of workers of their jobs, and a Washington establishment that has failed the people.

Born on June 14, 1946, Trump made his mark as a business magnate, investor, television personality and author. He is the chairman of The Trump Organisation and founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts.

Trump made a formal announcement of his candidacy for president of the United States for the 2016 elections on June 16, 2015. He made the announcement from his headquarters in Trump Tower in New York City. He launched his campaign saying, “We are going to make our Country Great Again” with a commitment to become the “greatest jobs president”.

Throughout his campaign, his slogan Trump’s official campaign slogan is “Make America Great Again.” That was Ronald Reagan’s campaign slogan, but Trump trademarked it.

On May 4, 2016, Trump became the presumptive nominee after his only challengers, Texas United States senator Ted Cruz and Governor of Ohio John Kasich, dropped out.

Trump entered a large field of candidates consisting of 16 other Republican candidates campaigning for the nomination, the largest presidential field in American history. By early 2016, the race had mostly centered on Trump and Cruz.

On Super Tuesday, Trump won the majority of the delegates and remained the front-runner throughout the primaries. Finishing in June 2016 with nearly 14 million votes, Trump broke the all-time record for winning the most primary votes in the history of the Republican Party.