Candidates close election campaign with competing visions for future of US
As the election campaign drew to a close last night, the candidates laid out their competing visions for the destiny of America. Donald Trump attacked his critics and vilified migrants, while Kamala Harris laid out a positive vision for America.
Harris was in Pennsylvania, the biggest swing state and crucial to the Democratic campaign. She held the final rally of her campaign at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, made famous by a scene in the film Rocky. Introduced by Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga, Harris emphasised her message of hope. “We finish, as we started, with optimism, with energy, with joy,” she said. “We need to get to work.”
Trump struck a darker tone in the same state, with threats to put trade tariffs on all imports from Mexico unless it stopped people from entering the US. The Republican candidate also held hours-long events in North Carolina and Michigan, wrapping up at about 2am local time.
Here’s a video round-up of the final campaign push by Trump and Harris:
A Republican lawyer who interned in the White House under Donald Trump is challenging Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who brought charges against the former president over efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, AP reports.
Courtney Kramer worked in the White House counsel’s office during the Trump presidency and is active in GOP organisations. She’s the first Republican to run for district attorney in Fulton County since 2000.
Fulton County, which is home to 11% of the state’s electorate and includes most of the city of Atlanta, is a Democratic stronghold.
Willis took office in January 2021 after beating her predecessor — and former boss — longtime district attorney Paul Howard in a bitter Democratic primary fight in 2020.
She made headlines just a month into her tenure when she announced in February 2021 that she was investigating whether Trump and others broke any laws while trying to overturn his narrow loss in the state to Democrat Joe Biden.
Two and a half years later, after an investigation that included calling dozens of witnesses before a special grand jury, she obtained a sprawling racketeering indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023.
Four people have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the remaining defendants have all pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
When she entered the district attorney’s race in March, Kramer said the Trump prosecution was a politically motivated case and a waste of resources. She said if she becomes district attorney she will recuse herself from that case because she worked with two of the defendants.
Republicans could take Senate, with Democrats winning control of the House
As well as who will become US president, control of the US Congress is at stake in today’s elections that could flip both the House of Representatives and the Senate, Reuters reports.
The outcome will play an important role in determining how easily the winner of Tuesday’s US presidential election will govern until the next congressional elections in 2026.
Nonpartisan analysts say Republicans stand a good chance of taking back the Senate, where Democrats hold a 51-49 majority. But Republicans could also lose their grip on the House, where Democrats only need to pick up four seats to take back control of the 435-seat chamber.
As in the presidential election, the outcome will likely be determined by a small slice of voters. The battle for the Senate hinges on seven contests, while fewer than 40 House races are seen as truly competitive.
“It’s incredibly close,” said Erin Covey, who analyses House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
Voters do not seem to be indicating a clear preference for either party. An October Reuters/Ipsos poll found 43% of registered voters would back the Republican candidate in their district, while 43% would back the Democratic candidate.
