US Midterms produce a mixed picture

US MIDTERM ELECTIONS

DEMOCRATS	(+39)	234	HOUSE	201	(-39)	REPUBLICANS
	(-2)	47	SENATE	53	(+2)
	(+7)	23	GOVERNOR	27	(-6)

DEMOCRATS put a dent in the power of President Donald Trump in the Midterm elections after flipping the House of Representatives and gaining several Governors seats.

But, on a mixed night overall, Republicans easily retained control on the Senate - and in fact made gains in Florida, Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota to strengthen their grip on the upper chamber.

The result fell largely within the expectations of most of the pundits and followed the decision by President Trump to pursue an unusually high profile campaign.

Voter turnout was well up on the miserable 36.4% recorded in the last Midterms in 2014 under Barack Obama as Trump supporters and detractors alike delivered their verdict on his first two years in the White House.

Indeed, Americans remain bitterly divided along partisan lines after another brutal election period which featured a sex abuse scandal, several mail bombs, concerns over a migrant caravan, and a mass shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.

The sex abuse scandal related to Brett Kavanaugh, who was Mr Trump's nomination for the vacant Supreme Court position.

Prior to this nomination, Palo Alto University Professor of Psychology Christine Blasey Ford contacted a Washington Post tip line with allegations that Mr Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her in the 1980s while the two of them were in high school.

Meanwhile, two other women also accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.

Mr Kavanaugh categorically denied all the allegations - and, on 27 September, he and Ms Ford testified to a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

The hearing caused a stir but ultimately mattered little. On 6 October, the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed Mr Kavanaugh's nomination by a 50-48 margin, and he was sworn in later that day.

Bizarrely, the whole affair appeared to boost support for Mr Trump's Grand Old Party as what became characterised by the President as a witch hunt further energised the Republican base.

But, while events surrounding Mr Kavanaugh somehow seemed to work in Mr Trump's favour, the New Yorker adopted a decidedly unpresidential approach to dealing with the fallout from a series of mail bombs delivered to prominent Democrats and other liberals.

In all, 15 pipe bombs were mailed to the likes of former President Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton between 22 and 29 October.

Other people who were sent packages included California congresswoman Maxine Waters, Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, former Attorney General Eric Holder, two former intelligence chiefs, billionaires George Soros and Tom Steyer, and actor Robert De Niro.

Meanwhile, a 15th package, addressed to CNN's world headquarters, was found at an Atlanta post office.

Suspect Cesar Sayoc Jr was arrested in Florida on 26 October. He faces five federal charges and he has been held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

Naturally, Mr Trump condemned the attacks in an official statement.

Incredibly, though, he later complained the mail bombs had robbed the Republicans of some crucial momentum in the run-up to polling day.

Sadly, it was also not the last of the violence before the election. On 27 October, a gunman opened fire at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, killing at least 11 people.

The suspected perpertrator - Robert Gregory Bowers - was reported to have been heavily involved in "extermist friendly" websites such as Gab and had promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories online through social media.

Bowers's Gab profile featured a cover picture was a photo with the number 1488, used by neo-Nazis and white supremacists to evoke David Lane's Fourteen Words and the Nazi slogan Heil Hitler.

Moreover, Bowers had also published posts supporting the white genocide theory.

Now, of course, Bowers has not acted in a complete vacuum - and it would not be too great a stretch to consider that he had been embolded by a hostile environment created, in part, by some of the language used by Mr Trump throughout his presidency.

Unsurprisingly, that was no different during the election build up as he ordered more than 5,000 troops to guard the southern border from what he described as "an invasion" of migrants.

Instead, though, it was healthcare - and not immigration - which was reported to be the voters' most important issue in the exit polls following Mr Trump's vow "to repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.

Naturally, there was plenty of desire among Republicans to repeal Obamacare - but its replacement has been subject to much consternation in Congress, and it has therefore not been forthcoming.

Having now lost their majority in the House of Representatives, matters are going to be even more difficult for Mr Trump and the Grand Old Party in the second half of his four-year term.

But it seems highly unlikely that the loss of the House will have any effect on Mr Trump's modus operandi.

Already, in the wake of the election, he has fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions and warned the Democrats that he would adopt a "warlike posture" if they investigated him.
 
Mr Trump had previously pilloried Mr Sessions for his involvement in the Russia inquiry which is investigating potential collusion between the Trump presidential campaign and Moscow.

Nevertheless, the President extended an olive branch to Democrats, proposing both parties work together on joint legislative priorities such as infrastructure, trade and health.

It will not be easy - but it is not clear exactly how much it matters to Mr Trump in any case for the reality is that the President is permanently in campaign mode.

Even on the date of his inauguration - 20 January 2017 - he was looking ahead to picking his next fight by launching his re-election bid straightaway.

Basically then, we can simply expect more of the same from Mr Trump for the next two years - and that is plenty of rhetoric and hot air, but little in the way of action.

STATE-BY-STATE RESULTS

State			HOUSE DEMOCRATS		HOUSE REPUBLICANS			SENATE	GOVENOR
🔴 ALABAMA	(AL)		🔵	1 (-)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🔴	6 (-)		🔵🔴	🔴
🔴 ALASKA	(AK)			0 (-)	🔴	1 (-)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔴 ARIZONA	(AZ)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵	5 (+1)	🔴🔴🔴🔴	4 (-1)		🔵🔴	🔴
🔴 ARKANSAS	(AR)			0 (-)	🔴🔴🔴🔴	4 (-)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔵 CALIFORNIA	(CA)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵	45 (+6)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🔴🔴🔴	8 (-6)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔵 COLORADO	(CO)		🔵🔵🔵🔵	4 (+1)	🔴🔴🔴	3 (-1)		🔵🔴	🔵
🔵 CONNECTICUT	(CT)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵	5 (-)		0 (-)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔵 DELAWARE	(DE)		🔵	1 (-)		0 (-)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔴 FLORIDA	(FL)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵	13 (+2)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴  🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🔴🔴🔴🔴	14 (-2)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔴 GEORGIA	(GA)		🔵🔵🔵🔵	4 (-)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🔴🔴🔴🔴	9 (-)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔵 HAWAII	(HI)		🔵🔵	2 (-)		0 (-)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔴 IDAHO	(ID)			0 (-)	🔴🔴	2 (-)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔵 ILLINOIS	(IL)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵	13 (+2)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴	5 (-2)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔴 INDIANA	(IN)		🔵🔵	2 (-)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🔴🔴	7 (-)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔴 IOWA	(IA)		🔵🔵🔵	3 (+2)	🔴	1 (-2)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔴 KANSAS	(KS)		🔵	1 (+1)	🔴🔴🔴	3 (-1)		🔴🔴	🔵
🔴 KENTUCKY	(KY)		🔵	1 (-)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴	5 (-)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔴 LOUISIANA	(LA)		🔵	1 (-)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴	5 (-)		🔴🔴	🔵
🔵🔴 MAINE	(ME)		🔵🔵	2(+1)		0 (-1)		🔵🔴	🔵
🔵 MARYLAND	(MD)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵	7 (-)	🔴	1 (-)		🔵🔵	🔴
🔵 MASSACHUSETTS	(MA)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵	9 (-)		0 (-)		🔵🔵	🔴
🔴 MICHIGAN	(MI)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵	7 (+2)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🔴🔴	7 (-2)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔵 MINNESOTA	(MN)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵	5 (-)	🔴🔴🔴	3 (-)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔴 MISSISSIPPI	(MS)		🔵	1 (-)	🔴🔴🔴	3 (-)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔴 MISSOURI	(MO)		🔵🔵	2 (-)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴  🔴	6 (-)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔴 MONTANA	(MT)			0 (-)	🔴	1 (-)		🔵🔴	🔵
🔴 NEBRASKA	(NE)			0 (-)	🔴🔴🔴	3 (-)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔵 NEVADA	(NV)		🔵🔵🔵	3 (-)	🔴	1 (-)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔵 NEW HAMPSHIRE	(NH)		🔵🔵	2 (-)		0 (-)		🔵🔵	🔴
🔵 NEW JERSEY	(NJ)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵	11 (+4)	🔴	1 (-4)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔵 NEW MEXICO	(NM)		🔵🔵	2 (-)	🔴	1 (-)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔵 NEW YORK	(NY)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵  🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵	22 (+4)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴	5 (-4)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔴 NORTH CAROLINA	(NC)		🔵🔵🔵	3 (-)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴	10 (-)		🔴🔴	🔵
🔴 NORTH DAKOTA	(ND)			0 (-)	🔴	1 (-)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔴 OHIO	(OH)		🔵🔵🔵🔵	4 (-)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🔴🔴	12 (-)		🔵🔴	🔴
🔴 OKLAHOMA	(OK)		🔵	1 (+1)	🔴🔴🔴🔴	4 (-1)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔵 OREGON	(OR)		🔵🔵🔵🔵	4 (-)	🔴	1 (-)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔴 PENNSYLVANIA	(PA)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵	9 (+3)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🔴🔴🔴🔴	9 (-3)		🔵🔴	🔵
🔵 RHODE ISLAND	(RI)		🔵🔵	2 (-)		0 (-)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔴 SOUTH CAROLINA	(SC)		🔵🔵	2 (+1)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴	5 (-1)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔴 SOUTH DAKOTA	(SD)			0 (-)	🔴	1 (-)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔴 TENNESSEE	(TN)		🔵🔵	2 (-)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴  🔴🔴	7 (-)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔴 TEXAS	(TX)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵	13 (+2)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴  🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴  🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴  🔴🔴🔴	23 (-2)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔴 UTAH	(UT)		🔵	1 (+1)	🔴🔴🔴	3 (-1)		🔴🔴	🔴
🔵 VERMONT	(VT)		🔵	1 (-)		0 (-)		🔵🔵	🔴
🔵 VIRGINIA	(VA)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵	7 (+3)	🔴🔴🔴🔴	4 (-3)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔵 WASHINGTON	(WA)		🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵	7 (+1)	🔴🔴🔴	3 (-1)		🔵🔵	🔵
🔴 WEST VIRGINIA	(WV)			0 (-)	🔴🔴🔴	3 (-)		🔵🔴	🔴
🔴 WISCONSIN	(WI)		🔵🔵🔵	3 (-)	🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴	5 (-)		🔵🔴	🔵
🔴 WYOMING	(WY)			0 (-)	🔴	1 (-)		🔴🔴	🔴

US election 2016: Triumphant Trump beats complacent Clinton

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Hillary CLINTON Democrat 60,029,365 (47.7%)	232	California (55), Colorado (9), Connecticut (7), Delaware (3), Hawaii (4), Illinois (20), Maine (3), Maryland (10), Massachusetts (11), Minnesota (10), Nevada (6), New Hampshire (4), New Jersey (14), New Mexico (5), New York (29), Oregon (7), Rhode Island (4), Vermont (3), Virginia (13), Washington (12) + DC (3)
Donald TRUMP Republican 59,769,452 (47.5%)	306	Alabama (9), Alaska (3), Arizona (11), Arkansas (6), Florida (29), Georgia (16), Idaho (4), Indiana (11), Iowa (6), Kansas (6), Kentucky (8), Louisiana (8), Maine (1), Michigan (16), Mississippi (6), Missouri (10), Montana (3), Nebraska (5), North Carolina (15), North Dakota (3), Ohio (18), Oklahoma (7), Pennsylvania (20), South Carolina (9), South Dakota (3), Tennessee (11), Texas (38), Utah (6), West Virginia (5), Wisconsin (10), Wyoming (3)

MAVERICK Donald Trump pulled off possibly the most sensational win in American electoral history yesterday after defeating Hillary Clinton to become the 45th President of the United States.

With Arizona still counting, and Michigan and New Hampshire classed as virtual dead heats, the final result in the Electoral College is yet to be confirmed. 

However, if the current positions in each of those states holds, Mr Trump will eventually prevail 306 to 232, as above.

By contrast, in the popular vote, it is highly likely that Mrs Clinton will be confirmed as the winner, making it the second presidential election out of the last five in which the winner of the most votes has failed to gain the keys to the White House.

For the record, George W Bush beat Al Gore in 2000 despite losing the popular vote - something which my preview blog mentioned. 

In fact, the Democrats have won the popular vote in six of the last seven elections, missing out only in 2004 when incumbent Mr Bush defeated John Kerry. 

But all of these facts will be of little comfort to Mrs Clinton. The hopes of the 69-year-old becoming the first ever female US President now appear to be dashed forever. 

The election night itself made its customarily quiet start as states such as Maryland and Massachusetts for the Democrats, and Tennessee and Texas for the Republicans, were allocated to their respective columns.

Just after 3am GMT, with no swing states yet called, Mr Trump held a 140-109 lead in the Electoral College. But then came the first blow for Mrs Clinton. 

Ohio - a state which has backed the winner of every presidential election since 1960 - lived up to its bellwether reputation by being called for Mr Trump.

And, startlingly, the 70-year-old billionaire took the Buckeye state by nearly a nine-percent margin, a 12-point turnaround from four years ago when Barack Obama won it for the Democrats.

Better news followed for Mrs Clinton as she secured the electoral votes from Colorado and then, narrowly, from Virginia. However, early reports from Michigan and Wisconsin hinted at yet more trouble for her in the Mid West.

At 4am GMT, the Pacific coast states declared and the massive haul of 55 electoral votes from California put Mrs Clinton into the lead in the Electoral College.

But, as soon as the cheers over the California result were dying down at Clinton HQ in New York, North Carolina was declared for Mr Trump. 

Thereafter, it became one-way traffic in terms of the most important results. Mr Trump took the perennial swing state of Florida just after 4.30am GMT, and followed it up by securing neighbouring Georgia just before 5am GMT. 

However, the last knockout blows for Mrs Clinton were still yet to come.

Shortly after 7am GMT, Mr Trump would became the first ever Republican candidate to win an electoral vote in the north eastern state of Maine, which splits its vote by district. More crucially still, he then became the first Republican to win Pennsylvania since 1988.

Within minutes of that, it became clear Mr Trump had, in fact, repeated this feat in Wisconsin - and those 10 electoral votes were enough to put the Republican over the magical mark of 270 officially. 

Notably, Mrs Clinton had not visited the Badger state even once during the general election campaign. 

True, Wisconsin had been so reliably Democrat for the last 28 years that it might have seemed a waste of energy and resources - and, yes, this point relies a lot on hindsight. 

Nevertheless, such complacency, looking back, now seems astonishing. After all, the Mid West has threatened to drift away from the Democrats for years. 

In the 2012 election, Mr Obama arguably only secured the support of Michigan after he promised a bailout to the world famous but now much suffering automobile industry in Detroit.

Unfortunately, for such areas, the decline in manufacturing has gone on for so long now that there is a sense of permanency about it. 

Small-town America - including many places in the rust belt - can be a hopeless, desolate place for their mainly white working class communities.

And it should therefore come as no surprise that this is where the roars against the establishment and the political elite have been at their loudest.

Some commentators have called it a whitelash but such analysis is far too simplistic and the complaints of these people - who just happen to be white, working class - are as much about economics as race.

Indeed, analysis of the white vote will not on its own explain the election result as a whole. 

For a start, the Clinton campaign also struggled to enthuse enough black or Hispanic voters with turnout for the Democrats well down on the last two elections.

Certainly, though, it was in the Mid West where this election was lost by Mrs Clinton - in Michigan and Wisconsin especially, where she had also earlier lost both Democratic primaries to another political outsider Bernie Sanders. 

Of course, it is impossible to know at this stage if Mr Sanders would instead have beaten Mr Trump. Surely, though, a Sanders candidacy would have given those angry anti-establishment voters in the Mid West something more to think about.

For a start, he may have paid those people some attention and listened to their concerns so that they did not simply lash out and desperately cross their ballot against Mr Trump's name in the vague hope that something somehow might change.

After all, even many Republican voters have admitted Mr Trump was, at best, a rather dysfunctional candidate for them.

The New Yorker, nonetheless, was still good enough to win - and, with Republicans having also retained control of both the House and the Senate, it would be fair to say the world became an even more uncertain place this week.

It could be a long four years with Mr Trump as President - and, following an election which changed the shape of the political map in America, it might well be eight.

US election 2016: Clinton on a knife-edge

THE MOST bitter and divisive US Presidential election in decades mercifully draws to a close overnight as America decides between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Democrat candidate Mrs Clinton still holds the lead in almost all of the national polls - but, as election day has got closer, so undoubtedly have those polls.

Moreover, the popular vote is not even the decisive factor. It is possible, as George W Bush proved against Al Gore in 2000, to lose in terms of the total number of votes and yet still win the election.

The reason behind this is the electoral college system in which a candidate requires 270 electoral college votes to win.

Based largely on the population of a state, demographics across America have resulted in the majority of states becoming either dependably blue for the Democrats or reliably red for the Republicans.

As such, it can be safely predicted that California (55), Connecticut (7), Delaware (3), Hawaii (4), Illinois (20), Maine (4), Maryland (10), Massachusetts (11), New Jersey (14), New Mexico (5), New York (29), Oregon (7), Rhode Island (4), Vermont (3), Virginia (13), Washington (12), and the District of Columbia (3) will all fall into Mrs Clinton's column for a total of 204 electoral college votes.

Likewise, Mr Trump can expect to win Alabama (9), Alaska (3), Arkansas (6), Idaho (4), Indiana (11), Kansas (6), Kentucky (8), Louisiana (8), Mississippi (6), Missouri (10), Montana (3), Nebraska (5), North Dakota (3), Oklahoma (7), South Carolina (9), South Dakota (3), Tennessee (11), Texas (38), Utah (6), West Virginia (5), and Wyoming (3) for an overall tally of 164.
However, the map of swing states - where the turnout of a candidate's vote really counts - is far wider in 2016 than it was in 2012.

Also, four years ago, incumbent Barack Obama could count on holding the upper hand in nearly every single so-called 'purple' state. 

But, for Mrs Clinton this time around, that is simply not the case. 

Indeed, on the eve of the election proper, Florida (29), Nevada (6), and North Carolina (15) are complete toss-ups. 

Worse still, she trails in Arizona (11), Georgia (16), Iowa (6), and Ohio (18), all of which are thought to be up for grabs.

Fortunately for Mrs Clinton, she continues to have far more pathways to victory than Mr Trump.

Converting narrow leads in Colorado (9), Michigan (16), Minnesota (10), New Hampshire (4), Pennsylvania (20), and Wisconsin (10) would be enough for Mrs Clinton to become the first ever female President of the United States without her needing any of those other swing states.

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And if Mrs Clinton managed to pull off a win in Arizona, Florida or North Carolina, Mr Trump would find it just about impossible to succeed.

On final analysis then, Mrs Clinton is still a clear favourite in this election. 

Nevertheless, victory - if it does indeed arrive - will have been nowhere near as comfortably achieved as expected.

This has been a bruising campaign for the 69-year-old former New York senator right from the primary season when she faced an unexpectedly tough challenge from Bernie Sanders.

Having eventually won that race, Mrs Clinton has since been dogged by accusations that she may have breached federal rules during her time as Secretary of State by using a private email account for official business.

For the record, Mrs Clinton was cleared in July after a systematic analysis by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

But astonishingly, 11 days before the election, the FBI announced that newly discovered emails had come to light and it was re-opening its investigation.

On Sunday, FBI director James Comey cleared Mrs Clinton again. Nevertheless, the resurfacing of the story chimed well among some wavering voters with Mr Trump's repeated assertion that his opponent is corrupt.

And, consequently, it has dashed any possibility of a Clinton landslide, something had started to look increasingly during the month of October.

Yes, just a month ago, all the heat was on Mr Trump as a recording from 2005 was released in which he used explicit language, and claimed he could kiss and grope women because he is "a star".

Mr Trump, who had been accused of sexism on several occasions, later apologised for the remarks, claiming they did not reflect who he was.

But the damage was done and many Republicans withdrew their support including 2008 nominee, Arizona senator John McCain, and former Secretary of State in the Bush administration, Condoleezza Rice.

Somehow, it got worse for Mr Trump. In the days following the release of the tape, a steady stream of women came forward to suggest the recording did, in fact, reflect who he was.

Fighting fire with fire, Mr Trump held an impromptu press conference with women who have accused Mrs Clinton's husband, 42nd President Bill Clinton, of sexual assault.

It was the day, the BBC declared, that this election had gone down the drain - but, arguably, Mr Trump has never risen above the cesspit.

At the very launch of his bid for the presidency, he demonised Mexican immigrants as rapists and has constantly threatened to build a wall on the border between Mexico and the United States.

Meanwhile, his response to the San Bernardino terrorist attack in California was to "ban all Muslims" from entering the country. 

It is perhaps then no wonder that Mrs Clinton - despite her own imperfect campaign - still finds herself ahead.

Even then, though, an overnight victory - unless it is totally overwhelming - may not be the end of it. 

Mr Trump already on record saying he will not necessarily accept a result which does not go in his favour. Additionally, he has repeatedly claimed the election is rigged against him. 

Of course, the 70-year-old has already made so much investment, both financially and emotionally, to his tawdry campaign - and he has already suffered so much damage to his reputation. 

As such, being additionally labelled as a bad loser would, at this stage, barely make him flinch.

Ultimately then, this election may not, in fact, finish overnight after all. The best tip right now would be to brace yourself.
 

Coverage on BBC One begins at 11.15pm with the equivalent results programme on ITV starting slightly earlier at 10.40pm. Both broadcasts run through until breakfast news begins at 6am.

CLOSING TIMES All times are GMT (number of electoral votes)
00:00 Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia (60)

00:30 North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia (38)

01:00 Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, DC 01:30 Arkansas (178)

02:00 Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming (156)

03:00 Iowa, Montana, Nevada, Utah (21)

04:00 California, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Washington (82)

06:00 Alaska (3)

Trump towers over his rivals on Super Tuesday

SUPER TUESDAY RESULTS Primaries and Caucuses

ALABAMA	01-Mar	DEMOCRAT Clinton 77.8%, Sanders 19.2% REPUBLICAN Trump 43.4%, Cruz 21.1%, Rubio 18.7%
ARKANSAS	01-Mar	DEMOCRAT Clinton 66.3%, Sanders 29.7% REPUBLICAN Trump 32.7%, Cruz 30.5%, Rubio 25.0%
GEORGIA	01-Mar	DEMOCRAT Clinton 71.3%, Sanders 28.2% REPUBLICAN Trump 38.8%, Rubio 24.4%, Cruz 23.6%
MASSACHUSETTS	01-Mar	DEMOCRAT Clinton 50.1%, Sanders 48.7% REPUBLICAN Trump 49.3%, Kasich 18.0%, Rubio 17.8%
MINNESOTA	01-Mar	DEMOCRAT Sanders 61.7%, Clinton 38.3% REPUBLICAN Rubio 36.5%, Cruz 29.0%, Trump 21.3%
OKLAHOMA	01-Mar	DEMOCRAT Sanders 51.9%, Clinton 41.5% REPUBLICAN Cruz 34.4%, Trump 28.3%, Rubio 26.0%
TENNESSEE	01-Mar	DEMOCRAT Clinton 66.1%, Sanders 32.4% REPUBLICAN Trump 38.9%, Cruz 24.7%, Rubio 21.2%
TEXAS	01-Mar	DEMOCRAT Clinton 65.2%, Sanders 33.2% REPUBLICAN Cruz 43.8%, Trump 26.7%, Rubio 17.7%
VERMONT	01-Mar	DEMOCRAT Sanders 86.1%, Clinton 13.6% REPUBLICAN Trump 32.7%, Kasich 30.4%, Rubio 19.3%
VIRGINIA	01-Mar	DEMOCRAT Clinton 64.3%, Sanders 35.2% REPUBLICAN Trump 34.7%, Rubio 31.9%, Cruz 16.9%
ALASKA	01-Mar	REPUBLICAN Cruz 36.4%, Trump 33.5%, Rubio 15.1%
COLORADO	01-Mar	DEMOCRAT Sanders 58.9%, Clinton 40.4%

FRONT-RUNNERS Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton boosted their respective chances of winning their party nominations for the general election after both took seven states on Super Tuesday.

Mr Trump won in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia in the Republican race - while Mrs Clinton dominated her only rival Bernie Sanders in the South.

Indeed, Mrs Clinton took Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia as well as Massachusetts narrowly.

And, while the defeats in the southern states were far heavier, they were expected - and so it is the Massachusetts result which will give Mr Sanders most cause for concern.

Massachusetts was one of a quintet of states - along with Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Vermont - which Mr Sanders admitted he really needed to win.

But the fact that he did not fully succeed in this aim suggests his race is nearly run - with bookmakers having now made Mrs Clinton as short as 1/33 to be the Democrat nominee.

By contrast, for now, the equivalent Republican contest is still alive - but Mr Trump is undoubtedly in control.

The entrepreneur's nearest rival Ted Cruz met - or even perhaps even slightly exceeded - expectations in winning Alaska and Oklahoma as well as his home state, the delegate-heavy Texas.

Meanwhile, Marco Rubio finally got on the board with his first primary win in Minnesota.

However, Mr Trump was at least relatively competitive pretty much everywhere, recording his lowest percentage of the night in Minnesota.

There, it was still 21.3% - and his much higher figures elsewhere have helped him pick up delegate nominations even in the states which he did not win.

And this is important - for, ultimately, it is the number of delegates which counts, not the number of states won (although both, of course, go hand-in-hand).

Currently, Mr Trump leads the way with 316 nominations ahead of Texas senator Mr Cruz by 90.

Mr Rubio trails in third place on just 106 delegates but the one-term Florida senator has so far declined Mr Cruz's request for him to end his campaign.

Mr Cruz understandably wants to have a go at Mr Trump all on his own - but Mr Rubio will not pull out as he fancies his chances in the upcoming winner-takes-all contests in Ohio and on his home turf of Florida.

Moreover, Mr Rubio considers Mr Cruz's strong pull of the evangelical vote to be too narrow to win in the general election - or even against Mr Trump.

In fairness, he is probably right in this regard - Mr Cruz should have done far better already. Nonetheless, Mr Trump hardly looks to be quaking in his boots at the thought of a resurgence from Mr Rubio.

Already, indeed, the Queens-born businessman last night instead turned his sabre-rattling towards his anticipated rival for the presidency, Mrs Clinton.

Earlier, Mrs Clinton had made her own Super Tuesday speech in which she said: "I’m going to keep saying it. I believe what we need in America today is more love and kindness, because you know what? It works."

She added that she wanted to "make America whole again" - but this was derided as a meaningless statement by Mr Trump who added: "She [Clinton]'s been there for so long.

"If she hasn't straightened it out by now, she's not going to straighten it out in the next four years. It's just going to become worse and worse."

At least, this time, he launched a legitimate attack on his main political opponent - rather than earlier in the week when he was quoting Benito Mussolini on Twitter.

Or, then, more seriously, appearing reluctant to disavow support from David Duke, the leader of the notorious white supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan.

Nevertheless, it seems Mr Trump will have plenty of other opportunities yet for mis-steps, both deliberate and planned.

A Republican contest which was previously unclear has now shifted inextricably in his favour and Trump v Clinton on 8 November beckons.

Put the date in the diary folks and then cross your fingers that a badly-coiffured lunatic does not end up in the White House.

It moved one step closer after his and Hillary Clinton's Super Tuesday.

EARLIER RESULTS

IOWA	01-Feb	DEMOCRAT Clinton 49.8%, Sanders 49.6% REPUBLICAN Cruz 27.6%, Trump 24.3%, Rubio 23.1%
NEW HAMPSHIRE	09-Feb	DEMOCRAT Sanders 60.9%, Clinton 37.9% REPUBLICAN Trump 35.7%, Kasich 15.8%, Cruz 11.7%
NEVADA	20-Feb 23-Feb	DEMOCRAT Clinton 52.6%, Sanders 47.3% REPUBLICAN Trump 45.9%, Rubio 23.9%, Cruz 21.4%
SOUTH CAROLINA	20-Feb 27-Feb	DEMOCRAT Clinton 73.5%, Sanders 26.0% REPUBLICAN Trump 32.5%, Rubio 22.5%, Cruz 22.3%

NY TIMES DELEGATE COUNT
Democrat (2382 to win)
577 Hillary Clinton
386 Bernie Sanders

Republican (1237 to win)
316 Donald Trump
226 Ted Cruz
106 Marco Rubio
25 John Kasich
8 Ben Carson