The watch party at Vice President Kamala Harris' alma mater Howard University was not the celebratory occasion supporters were hoping for on election night.
Vice President Kamala Harris skipped the event as it was becoming apparent she would not win the presidential election.
Around 12:45 a.m., Cedric Richmond, co-chair of the Harris-Walz campaign, told supporters that they would not hear from the vice president until Wednesday.
"We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted," he said.
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Less than 45 minutes later, Scripps News and Decision Desk HQ projected Donald Trump would win the battleground state of Pennsylvania, earning him 19 electoral votes, which were enough to reach the 270 threshold. Trump added to that lead with a projected victory in the battleground state of Wisconsin.
Prior to the call in Pennsylvania, the Harris campaign released a memo projecting confidence, saying votes still needed to be counted in various Democratic strongholds. The memo, however, did not mention earlier projected losses in the battleground states of Georgia and North Carolina.
The Harris campaign was not the only Democratic campaign to have a rough night. Senate Democrats lost seats in West Virginia and Ohio, allowing Republicans to take control of the chamber in 2025.
Control of the House of Representatives remains up in the air and may not be known for days or even weeks.
If Republicans maintain control of the House of Representatives, it would be reminiscent of the 2016 election. That year, Trump won the presidency and Republicans won control of the House and Senate.
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