5 years ago

Rep. Steve Scalise: ‘I think the Senate stays Republican.’

“The momentum really matters in any political election,” Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., told Judy Woodruff tonight. “You want to have momentum going into election day. President Trump clearly has that momentum, and that’s helping, by the way, those Senate candidates and those House candidates in the swing districts.”

5 years ago

Polls have closed in parts of Indiana and Kentucky

Other parts of the state close at 7 p.m. ET. Both states are expected to be solid wins for President Donald Trump, who in 2016 won Kentucky and Indiana by large margins, though recent polling indicates his lead over Biden will be much smaller.

5 years ago

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: ‘We were so absolutely certain 4 years ago.’

In an interview with Judy Woodruff, Pelosi spoke about the results of the 2016 election and the prospects for 2020: “It was a sad occasion for the country, but it did make sure that for this election nobody assumed anything,” Pelosi said. “No wasted time, no underutilized resources, and no regrets that we could have done something more.”

5 years ago

Note: Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 but won the Electoral College.

In 2016, Donald Trump and Mike Pence won with 306 electoral votes. Donald Trump and Mike Pence won in 2016 with 306 electoral votes and 45.9 percent of the popular vote. Hillary Clinton had 48 percent of the popular vote, but only earned 232 electoral votes.

5 years ago

Remember, a candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win.

The presidential election isn’t decided by the national popular vote; it’s decided by winning a majority of Electoral College votes. There are 538 electoral votes available. Whoever gets at least 270 wins the White House.

5 years ago

What PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff is watching tonight.

“I’ll be watching what happens to the 2016 Trump vote — both in terms of demographics and geography,” Woodruff wrote for today’s Here’s the Deal newsletter. “Which voters does he hold on to? Which does he lose, or gain? And how accurate were the polls? All the pollsters are trying hard not to make the mistakes of the past. How close will their polling come to the final results in the presidential election?”

5 years ago

Already, there’s been record-setting voter turnout.

In 2016, about 58.3 million votes were cast before Election Day. This year, more than 100 million votes were cast early, either in-person or by mail. Since the voting age was lowered to 18, the highest turnout the U.S. has seen in a presidential election was 61.6 percent of eligible voters.