President Trump is projected to win the states of Florida and Texas, the Associated Press has declared.
With 96 percent of the Florida’s ballots counted, Trump has won 51.3 percent of the vote to rival Joe Biden’s 47.8 percent. Florida is considered a crucial state on the path to victory in the Electoral College.
Trump’s victory was in part boosted by heightened support among Latinos, particularly in Miami-Dade County. Throughout the election, the president attempted to portray Biden as a vehicle for “socialist” policies, hoping to appeal to Latino voters of Cuban or Venezuelan descent.
The win in Texas gives Trump 38 additional electoral votes, and dashes Democrats’ hopes of flipping the state.
Trump held 212 Electoral College votes to Biden’s 223 as of 1 a.m., according to AP projections. Florida and Texas were able to successfully report results despite record-breaking levels of mail-in voting and concerns stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
By contrast, the crucial swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin have only allowed ballot-counting to begin after polls closed on Tuesday. A full tally of votes in those states will not be available for several days, election officials in the states told Bloomberg.