Trump wins Pennsylvania, granting him Electoral College victory: DDHQ projecting on The Hill

(NEXSTAR) — Former Pres. Donald Trump is the winner in Pennsylvania, earning the swing state's coveted 19 electoral votes, and giving him an Electoral College victory, according to Decision Desk HQ on NewsNation and The Hill.

Battleground Pennsylvania was widely seen as one of the night’s top prizes — and a do-or-die for either candidate. Back in 2020, the state was responsible for sealing Biden’s win, and in 2016, it helped send Trump to the White House.

The call came just before 1:30 a.m. Eastern Time, with over 92% of the votes in. Two other key battleground states, Georgia and North Carolina, were called in his favor earlier in the night.

Trump and Harris both hit the state hard in the lead-up to the election. Starting last week, Harris campaigned across the battleground state, with a rally in Harrisburg before appearances in Allentown, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on Monday. Meanwhile, Trump held a rally in Lancaster County over the weekend and events in Reading and Pittsburgh on Monday.

Heading into Election Day, Trump and frequent campaign guest Elon Musk began posting false claims of fraud happening during early voting in Pennsylvania. On his Truth Social platform, the former president wrote, “We caught them CHEATING BIG in Pennsylvania.” 

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt held a press briefing to debunk the false claims, saying, “Spreading videos and other information that lack context, sharing social posts filled with half-truths or even outright lies is harmful to our representative democracy.”

In response to Trump and Musk’s fraudulent claims, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said that Trump was attempting to “use the same playbook to stoke chaos” as he did during the 2020 election.

However, it's less likely the Trump campaign will attempt to challenge Pennsylvania’s election results, now that the results are favorable. Nevertheless, the organization has already filed a lawsuit regarding early voting in the state. 

The issue originated in Bucks County, where, because Pennsylvania doesn’t have typical early voting (instead, voters drop off their mail-in ballot in person), the county offices did not have to stay open late. A judge ultimately ruled that the county did need to stay open late, despite the previously unclear rules, and early voting was extended three days.

Though the Trump campaign touted this as a win against Democrat-led voter suppression, other experts, like Stanford Law School professor Nate Persily, said they believe the lawsuit was merely the first step in “putting down markers to preserve arguments for a potential contest of the election…It’s also preparing the public for the likely charges that the election was defective and corrupt — or maybe I should say rigged.”

Over the past few elections, Pennsylvania has emerged as one of the most important players nationally.

Back in 2016, Trump narrowly won Pennsylvania, earning its 20 electoral votes. For 2024, however, redistricting in the state resulted in the loss of one vote. 

The state has voted for the presidential winner every year since the 2008 election.