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World / Americas

Trump wins Florida, biggest battleground prize

Published: 04 Nov 2020 - 08:39 am | Last Updated: 05 Nov 2021 - 07:10 pm
Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump cheer outside of the Versailles restaurant as they await the results of the presidential election on November 03, 2020 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP

Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump cheer outside of the Versailles restaurant as they await the results of the presidential election on November 03, 2020 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP

AP

WASHINGTON: The Latest on the presidential campaign (all times local): 12:35 p.m.

President Donald Trump has won Florida and its 29 electoral votes, the biggest prize among the perennial battlegrounds and a state crucial to his reelection hopes.

A victory in Florida means reelection is within Trump’s grasp. A loss in the state would have made it nearly impossible for Trump to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to retain the White House.

Democrat Joe Biden’s campaign had hoped the devastating toll of the coronavirus pandemic, particularly among older adults, would put him in a strong position in a state popular with retirees.

Trump moved his official residence to his Palm Beach estate Mar-a-Lago from New York last year.

Trump narrowly beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in the state in 2016.