ELECTORAL VOTE Trump: 201 Clinton: 190
Time: 5:05am Source: BBC
Democrat candidate hopeful as results from 15
states are awaited
Early results of the United States presidential
election – as at 5:05am – gave Republican
Donald Trump an unexpected surge – against
the grain of all projections. But Democrat
Hilary Clinton supporters remained confident of
clinching a close race.


The balance of political power is teetering on a
knife-edge as a handful of swing states will
determine the final outcome.


As at 5:05 am, with results of 35 of the 50
states projected, Trump had secured 201
Electoral College votes to Clinton’s 190. The
winning figure is 270.


The Republican won Ohio and Florida, two
battle ground states.


Clinton won in California, the state with 55
electoral college votes.


A half-dozen ‘swing’ states, those that don’t
reliably lean Republican or Democrat, were
undecided as vote tallies went on. Key battles
were unfolding in Florida, Ohio and
Pennsylvania – with Georgia, North Carolina
and Virginia also up in the air.
Trump will need to win at least four of those
six states to have a plausible path to the
White House.


Cheers rang out at the Trump victory party
inside a Manhattan hotel ballroom every time
Florida updates flashed on giant screens. Yet a
senior Trump campaign official admitted to
CNN as the results poured in: “It will take a
miracle for us to win.” Florida was the
deciding state in the 2000 election between
George W. Bush and Al Gore.


A major recount dispute meant that the result
was not known for more than a month after
balloting.


Initial results gave Clinton victories in
Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New Jersey, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, Vermont, Virginia and the
District of Columbia. Trump claimed wins in
Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky,
Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South
Carolina, , Tennessee and West Virginia.


Results in the states gave Trump an electoral
college lead of 129-97.
With preliminary election results flooding in on
the east coast, the Republicans have been
projected to retain control of the House of
Representatives.


The news, while not unexpected, confirms that
this will not be a wave election for the
Democrats. The balance of the Senate also
leads towards the GOP after one key
challenger, Evan Bayh, lost a race to reclaim
his Indiana Senate seat.


What isn’t clear is the margin that Republicans
will have in the House. Pre-election projections
by UVA’s Center for Politics suggested that
Democrats would gain at least thirteen seats in
the House, leaving the Republicans with just a
33 seat margin instead of their current 49 seat
advantage.


The news suggests that regardless of the
result in the presidential election, we can
expect gridlock in a legislature where neither
party will hold an overwhelming advantage
over the other.


Even the likely future of Speaker of the House
Paul Ryan is on the line. While his party
controlling the House would normally
guarantee him reelection, concerns with his
waffling support of Donald Trump could cost
him support among his caucus. If Democrats
pick off Republicans in more moderate districts
who are likely to back Ryan, it could make the
House Republican caucus more conservative
and deliver a new Speaker more in line with
Trump—especially if the New York developer
wins the White House.


As at 4am the Republican had 118 House
seats to Democrats’ 86.


In the Senate race, it was 42 for Republicans
and 41 for Democrats.


In the governor’s election Democrats won 12
states while the Republicans had gained 29
states.


http://thenationonlineng.net/trump-clinton-tight-race/

Well TVC just reported 244 for Trump and 201 for Clinton from 41 States at 5:55am. I don't know their source though.

hmm