SEATTLE — Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is projected to win Washington state, NBC News has projected.
NBC called the race about 30 minutes after polls closed at 8 p.m. on Election Day in Washington. Harris is expected to receive Washington’s 12 electoral votes.
The race call was not a surprise as Washington as the Evergreen State has been solidly Democratic for decades. The last time Washington went for a Republican candidate was in 1984 for Ronald Reagan.
As of 8:30 p.m., Harris was leading with 59% of the vote in Washington and Trump was trailing with 38%. About 2.5 million votes have been counted in total.
The presidential race is still too close to call. NBC projects Trump has captured 214 electoral votes to Harris’ 172. None of the seven key battleground states have projected winners yet.
Harris and Trump entered Election Day focused on seven swing states, five of them carried by Trump in 2016 before they flipped to Biden in 2020: the “blue wall” of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, as well as Arizona and Georgia. Nevada and North Carolina, which Democrats and Republicans respectively carried in the last two elections, also were closely contested.
If Harris, 60, wins, she would be the first woman, Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve as president. She also would be the first sitting vice president to win the White House in 36 years.
A victory would cap a whirlwind campaign unlike any other in American history. Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket less than four months ago after Biden, facing massive pressure from his party after a disastrous debate performance, ended his reelection bid.
