Month: November 2024

Results are continuing to come in for various U.S. House of Representatives races across the country, with 218 seats needed for majority control. All 468 seats were on the ballot in Tuesday’s election with control of the House hanging in the balance. As of Wednesday afternoon, Democrats were projected to win at least 203 seats and Republicans 211 seats

CBS News reported that Republicans currently have a narrow majority in the House, with 220 seats, while Democrats control 212 seats. There are three vacancies.

News organizations including NBC News show Republicans with a lead in seats secured but there is no consensus on how many of those races have been called. House Democrats need to flip four Republican-held districts — while also winning every seat they currently hold — to retake the majority they lost in 2022.

Per Reuters, if Republicans ultimately prevail in the House, they would be in a position to dictate the agenda in Washington, helping Trump deliver on his campaign promises – at least until the 2026 midterm elections.

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On Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris conceded the election to President-elect Donald Trump, saying that her heart is “full of resolve” while urging her supporters to continue “the fight that fueled this campaign.”

The vice president’s speech came just hours after she called Trump to congratulate him on his win and discussed the “importance of a peaceful transfer of power and being a president for all Americans.”   In her role as president of the Senate, Harris will preside over Congress’ counting of electoral votes during a joint session on Jan. 6 that will reaffirm Trump’s win.

Harris addressed a crowd of supporters  from her alma mater, Howard University in Washington, D.C., thanking her family, President Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden, as well as her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz and their campaign staff.   She began: “Let me say my heart is full today. My heart is full today, full of gratitude for the trust you have placed in me, full of love for our country, and full of resolve. The outcome of this election was not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for, but hear me when I say the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”

The vice president added: “I am so proud of the race we ran and the way we ran it. Over the 107 days of this campaign, we have been intention about building community and building coalitions, bringing people together from every walk of life and background, united by love of country with enthusiasm and joy in our fight for America’s future. And we did it with the knowledge that we all have so much more in common than what separates us. A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. That principle as much as any other distinguishes democracy from monarchy and tyranny, and anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it.”

Harris said the nation owes loyalty to the Constitution, “our conscience and to our God. My allegiance to all three is why I am here today — to say while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign … Sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win. Do not despair. This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves. This is a time to organize, to mobilize and to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know we can build together.”

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said that during Harris’ call with Trump, the president-elect “acknowledged Vice President Harris on her strength, professionalism, and tenacity throughout the campaign, and both leaders agreed on the importance of unifying the country.”

The White House said in a statement that President Biden has spoken with Harris by phone and congratulated her on a “historic campaign,” and that the President also spoke with Trump and “expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition and emphasized the importance of working to bring the country together.”

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The Associated Press reports that Former President Donald Trump has defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to win the 2024 presidential election.

Early Wednesday morning, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency with a win in Wisconsin. The former president ended up with at least 279 electoral votes after clinching wins in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin, with Harris winning at least 219 votes. The race was marked by literal history, including two assassination attempts and 34 felony convictions against Trump, already having been impeached twice and faulted for mismanaging the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Trump 78m will be the oldest person to take the oath of office at his inauguration on Jan. 20. His running mate, freshman Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, 40, will preside over the Senate as the country’s first millennial vice president. Harris, 60, underwent a historic bid to become the nation’s first female president, first Asian American president and second Black president.

Trump said in his victory speech at his election headquarters in Florida: “I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president. And every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family and for your future. Every single day, I will be fighting for you with every breath in my body.” 

Harris didn’t speak on Election Night, forgoing her planned event at Howard University. Cedric Richmond, Harris’ campaign co-chair, said she will address her supporters and the nation later Wednesday.

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Tropical Storm Rafael gaining strength Tuesday morning after forming in the Caribbean Sea, with forecasters saying it will strengthen into a hurricane with predictions the storm is headed for the U.S. Gulf Coast later this week. Rafael is the 17th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, and it will be the 11th hurricane if it strengthens further. The National Hurricane Center said Tuesday: “Rafael is expected to become a hurricane as it passes near the Cayman Islands with further strengthening before it makes landfall in Cuba.”

NHC forecasters said Tuesday that Rafael was located about 80 miles south-southwest of Montego Bay, Jamaica and 230 miles southeast of Grand Cayman, carrying maximum sustained winds of 60 mph and moving northwest at 13 mph. Forecasters warn that “heavy rainfall” will hit the western Caribbean with heaviest rainfall occurring over Jamaica and portions of Cuba through mid-week.

NHC forecasters said Rafael is “getting better organized” as its center passes Jamaica, and is expected to undergo “steady to rapid intensification” to become a Category 1 hurricane as it passes near the Cayman Islands by Wednesday before weakening to a tropical storm again. The hurricane center’s latest forecast cone, which comes with some uncertainty, has Rafael passing over the western reaches of Cuba on Wednesday afternoon or evening.

The NWS station in Mobile, Ala., says there seems to be an “unusually large amount of uncertainty with the movement of this system later in the week.” Texas does not appear to be in Rafael’s track to see direct landfall, but by mid- to late week, “heavy” rainfall is expected to spread north into Florida and adjacent areas of the Southeast United State. A tropical storm watch was issued Monday afternoon for the lower and middle Florida Keys and for the Dry Tortugas, which was later upgraded Tuesday to a tropical storm warning.

Rafael could potentially bring tropical storm winds to portions of the northern Gulf Coast, including the Florida Keys and south Florida on Wednesday afternoon. Heavy rainfall was expected to spread north into Florida and elsewhere in the southeast U.S. by the middle or end of the week, with as much as 3 inches forecast for the lower and middle Florida Keys.

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