Important swing states Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, Florida and Missouri remain too close to call hours after the polls closed in those areas.

The race in Virginia is within one percentage point, while North Carolina, Florida and Indiana are within three percentage points in the latter half of the 9 p.m. hour ET.

All five states went to George Bush in 2004 and several, especially Virginia and Indiana are considered Republican strongholds.

“I think Indiana is a big surprise. George Bush won Indiana by 31 points over John Kerry. Indiana probably has to be as rock solid of a red state in the last 44 years as we’ve seen,” said historian Peniel Joseph on the NewsHour.

Missouri is also in close contention.

“We don’t know what we’ve got here yet,” Jim Kirchherr, a senior producer for KETC in St. Louis, Missouri, told the NewsHour.

“Missouri is interesting because it is one of those places that has the representative urban and rural mix, black and white, and that’s why a lot of people look to Missouri as an indicator of things.”

Historian Richard Norton Smith added that the lack of results is still telling.

“The fact that Virginia, Indiana and North Carolina are too close to call - that tells you that the Democrats, both presidential and Congressional, are poaching on traditionally Republican terrain,” North Smith said.

The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza agreed.

“Compare the number of competitive red states that remain uncalled — Indiana, Virginia, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina and Missouri to name a few of the most critical — to the state of play in the competitive blue states — New Hampshire and Pennsylvania — and you see that Obama clearly has an edge.”