With Trump leading, US election still undecided

Election 2016

US ElectionPeople gather around Times Square to view televised results of the US presidential election on November 9, 2016 in New York. Millions of Americans voted November 8th for their new leader in a historic election that will either elevate Democrat Hillary Clinton as their first woman president or hand power to maverick populist Donald Trump. PHOTO/ EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ / AFP

Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman says it has nothing more to say even as votes turn against her.

John Podesta told a crowd in New York early Wednesday that with states still uncalled “we’re not going to have anything else to say tonight.”

Clinton trails in the Electoral College count and Donald Trump is close to breaking the 270-vote threshold to become president.

Podesta told the crowd Clinton “has done an amazing job” and “is not done yet.”

Trump has reached the cusp of presidential victory, a stunner for Democrats, Republicans and all who underestimated him.

Capping a campaign of venom, audacity and history, Trump scored major victories in Florida, Ohio and North Carolina on Tuesday, building steam in a stunningly competitive contest with Hillary Clinton that raged across battlegrounds late into the night. Victory in Pennsylvania in the wee hours nudged him close to the prize, with Clinton having practically no path to the presidency.

Republicans kept control of the House and were on track to do so in the Senate, meaning a switch to unified government appeared in the cards.

Clinton pocketed Virginia — a squeaker like Florida — and both candidates rolled up victories in their predictable strongholds. But nothing else was predictable as the man who faced a huge climb to the presidency inched closer to it, in an election that laid bare the divisions gnawing at the nation.

Trump flipped Iowa, a state that twice voted for Democrat Barack Obama. He won Utah, a slam-dunk for most Republicans but a state where many die-hard Republicans were said to find him intolerable.

Both candidates left multitudes of Americans dissatisfied with their choices.

The struggle over whom to support was voiced by two voters in Independence, Missouri, after casting their ballots.

“I had such a hard time, harder than I’ve ever had,” said Joyce Dayhill, 59, a school bus driver who “reluctantly” voted for Trump. “I just prayed on it as hard as I could and felt this was the right decision.”

Said Clinton voter Richard Clevenger, 58: “I think Trump’s not stable. But I can’t say there was really anything Hillary’s shown me that made me feel like voting for her. But Trump just doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing, and he’s surrounded by the Mickey Mouse Club.”

The first states to be decided Tuesday night produced expected results: Kentucky, Indiana, Oklahoma, West Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee went for Trump; Vermont, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and the District of Columbia for Clinton.

In later waves, Trump added Texas, Kansas, Georgia and more to his column while Clinton took New York and Illinois, each reaping significant gains in the contest for 270 electoral votes but still searching for a breakout. Trump’s trio of wins in Florida, Ohio and North Carolina may have provided it.

Story by The Associated Press