WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President-elect Donald Trump won his sixth battleground state of the 2024 election early Saturday, beating Vice President Kamala Harris in Nevada.
The Associated Press declared Trump the winner after concluding there were not enough uncounted ballots in the state鈥檚 strongest Democratic areas to overcome the former president鈥檚 46,000-vote lead over the Democratic nominee.
Trump clinched a second term early Wednesday when Wisconsin pushed him past the 270 electoral votes needed to win, so Nevada鈥檚 six electoral votes only added to the size of his victory: He now has 301 electoral votes and has won six of the seven battleground states. Only Arizona remains to be called.
The AP only declares a winner once it can determine that a trailing candidate can鈥檛 close the gap and overtake the vote leader.
Here鈥檚 a look at how the AP called this race:
CANDIDATES: Harris (D) vs. Trump (R) vs. Chase Oliver (Libertarian) vs. Joel Skousen (Independent American Party) vs. 鈥淣one of these candidates.鈥�
WINNER: Trump.
POLL CLOSING TIME: 10 p.m. ET
ABOUT THE RACE:
Nevada has one of the nation鈥檚 best overall track records as a presidential bellwether, although voters there supported Democrat Hillary Clinton over Trump in 2016. The state remains a hotly contested battleground. Both Harris and Trump made to Nevada since becoming their parties鈥� nominees, including Halloween rallies in Clark County, home of Henderson and Las Vegas. Both campaigns concentrated their visit to those two cities, as well as Reno in Washoe County.
In statewide elections, Democrats tend to carry only two of Nevada鈥檚 17 counties: Clark and Washoe. Whether they win depends on how big their margins are in those two counties. Clark County has by far the largest population in the state. A large vote margin there is vital to Democratic electoral success. It comprised 69% of the total statewide vote in 2020. Washoe is more competitive, although Democrats have consistently prevailed there in high-profile statewide campaigns, including Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak鈥檚 unsuccessful 2022 reelection bid. Republicans tend to win the rest of the state by wide margins.
WHY AP CALLED THE RACE:
Most of the final ballots to be counted come from Clark and Washoe counties. They both have long-established histories of supporting Democrats for president. Statewide, votes counted after Election Day have also tended to favor Democrats.
Trump鈥檚 vote lead narrowed as more of these ballots are counted over the course of the week, but Harris was not winning those ballots by a large enough margin to overtake Trump for the lead. At the time AP called the race, AP estimated Harris would need to win 85% of all ballots left to count 鈥� a margin of victory she never achieved in any update since polls closed.
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Learn more about how and why the AP declares winners in U.S. elections at a series from The Associated Press aimed at helping make sense of the American democracy. The AP receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP鈥檚 democracy initiative . The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Robert Yoon, The Associated Press
