In securing the Keystone State’s whopping 20 electoral votes, Trump all but closed off a path for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to become the first woman in the Oval Office. He held 264 electoral votes, just six shy of the 270 majority need to win the White House.
It was the first time since 1988 that a GOP presidential candidate won Pennsylvania – a sign of the resonance Trump’s message had with white voters outside of the urban centers.
The states still un-called were New Hampshire, Minnesota, Arizona, Alaska, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Trump was also on track to prevail in Ohio, a key bellwether state that has backed the losing presidential candidate only once since 1944. The GOP nominee appealed directly to the sense of economic grievance in the Buckeye State, which has been buffeted by a declining manufacturing industry. Locking up the state’s 18 electoral votes boosts his options to getting to 270 electoral votes.
Clinton was projected the winner in Virginia, putting the state’s 13 electoral votes in her column. The late call came after a surprisingly tight contest in the commonwealth, whose blue northern suburbs outside of Washington, D.C. were anticipated to give her a substantial edge. With her victory, Virginia has now gone Democratic for three presidential elections in a row.
Trump locked down Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming, racking up 264 electoral votes.
Clinton was projected to win California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, giving her 215 electoral votes, according to the Associated Press.
Voting also ended in the key swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wisconsin. But those pivotal states were too close to immediately call.
Excitement was building inside Trump’s party late Tuesday night at a hotel ballroom a few blocks from Trump Tower. Supporters high-fived each other and excitedly checked their smartphones as the results poured in and Trump’s chances of an upset appeared brighter.