Why AP called Wisconsin and the White House for Donald Trump
The Associated Press declared that Republican Donald Trump won Wisconsin — and with it, a return to the White House — once it determined that the remaining uncounted votes mostly from the greater Milwaukee area would not be enough to allow Vice President Kamala Harris to overtake Trump for the lead
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press declared that Republican Donald Trump won Wisconsin — and with it, a return to the White House — once it determined that remaining uncounted votes mostly from the greater Milwaukee area would not be enough to allow Vice President Kamala Harris to overtake Trump.
With nearly all of the vote counted early Wednesday, the AP declared Trump the winner of Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes at 5:34 a.m. ET, enough to push the former president past the 270-vote threshold needed to retake the presidency.
Winning Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania had been the vice president’s most straightforward path to victory, but the AP had already declared Trump the winner in Pennsylvania at 2:24 a.m. ET. The AP declared Trump the winner in Michigan at 12:54 p.m. ET on Wednesday, although the race was still undetermined at the time Wisconsin was called.
In the hours leading up to the AP’s race call in Wisconsin, a sizable amount of uncounted ballots remained in Milwaukee and Racine counties, among others. In order to win, Harris would have needed to win the vast majority of these uncounted ballots. That was still possible, considering that Milwaukee County is one of the state’s most reliable Democratic strongholds. As for Racine, although the county generally favors Republicans, it historically has reported votes near the end of its count that heavily favored Democrats.
