Very few people thought he would actually run. He did. They thought he wouldn’t climb in the polls. He did. They said he wouldn’t win any primaries. He did.

They said he could never overcome resistance from the Republican establishment and win his party’s nomination. He did.

Finally, they said there was no way he could compete for, let alone win, a general election match-up with Hillary Clinton. Now he’s President-elect Trump.

In a stunning election night the Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump, has secured victory after a string of formerly Democratic states including Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and Iowa have voted Republican.

The results shows how strong the Republican vote was across the US, pushing Democratic support back to strongholds on the west coast and the north east.

Nationally, Donald Trump has won 47.7% of the vote, with Hillary Clinton taking 47.5% – yet this has translated into 278 Electoral College votes for the Republicans and 218 for the Democrats.

The Democrats lost support in the mid-west and around the Great Lakes, as well as in the south east, with exit polls suggesting that Mrs Clinton received less votes from non-whites than President Obama did in his election victories of 2012 and 2008.

The national share of the vote dropped by about three points for the Democrats to 47% compared with 2012, while the Republican share of the vote increased by less than one point.

For Donald Trump, taking the key state of Florida, which had previously voted for President Obama twice, was vitally important, but the result was on a knife edge, with the Republican candidate winning by one percent of the vote.

Republicans retain Congress and Senate
The Republican Party has kept its hold over Congress, capping a dire night for the Democrats. With Donald Trump elected as the next president, the Republicans retained their majorities in the House and Senate.

Republican dominance over Congress in principle enables Mr Trump to turn his policy plans into law, but how easily this will happen is unclear given that key party leaders had refused to back him.

The night began with majority control of the Senate up for grabs, with 34 of the 100 seats available.

But the Democrats have so far gained just one seat in the Senate, with Tammy Duckworth, a double amputee Iraq war veteran, taking Mark Kirk’s place in Illinois.

Another bright spot was in Nevada, which Cortez Masto retained for the Democrats, beating Republican Joe Heck to become the first Latina US senator.

Democrats also failed to significantly dent Republican advantage in the House, with just five Republican incumbents losing.

Victory unsettles markets
US stock futures fell dramatically overnight as Mr Trump’s lead became clear, although the Dow Jones index is now expected to lose 2% – about 400 points when it reopens – compared to earlier predictions of a 4% fall.

Kathleen Brooks, an analyst at City Index, said markets were calming down after the initial shock. “This suggests that a win for President Trump is not yet America’s Brexit moment. US Treasuries have reversed earlier gains, and yields are rising.”

Meanwhile, concerns about the impact of a Trump presidency on the Mexican economy saw its currency, the peso, fall more than 13% overnight against the dollar to its lowest level in two decades.

UK and European markets are taking stock after sharp initial falls following Donald Trump’s victory. The FTSE 100 index fell 2% at the start of trading before paring back some losses to trade 0.7% lower at midday.

Other major European stock markets also fell, with money flowing into safe haven stocks, gold and currencies including the yen.

Traders had expected Hillary Clinton to beat Mr Trump to become the next US president.

France’s Cac index and Germany’s Dax are each down about 1.5% after heavier falls at the start of trading.

Trump's First Speech
The 70-year-old real estate mogul — who is now the oldest person ever elected to a first presidential term — declared victory early Wednesday, saying Clinton had conceded the election and that it’s time for the nation “to come together as one united people.”

The Republican congratulated his Democratic rival, saying that she waged “a very very hard-fought campaign.” He also commended her for having “worked very long and very hard” over her political career.

“Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division — have to get together,” he said. “To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people.”

US Election 2016; State By State Results
Alabama
Candidate % votes
Trump 62.9% 1,303,576
Clinton 34.6% 717,138
Alaska
Candidate % votes
Trump 53.3% 119,249
Clinton 37.6% 84,102
Arizona
Candidate % votes
Trump 49.6% 934,966
Clinton 45.4% 856,030
Arkansas
Candidate % votes
Trump 60.4% 677,904
Clinton 33.8% 378,729
California
Candidate % votes
Clinton 61.5% 5,376,122
Trump 33.2% 2,900,689
Colorado
Candidate % votes
Clinton 47.2% 1,103,547
Trump 44.6% 1,043,043

Connecticut
Candidate % votes
Clinton 54.0% 814,482
Trump 41.6% 628,320
Delaware
Candidate % votes
Clinton 53.4% 235,581
Trump 41.9% 185,103
Dist. of Columbia
Candidate % votes
Clinton 92.8% 260,223
Trump 4.1% 11,553
Florida
Candidate % votes
Trump 49.1% 4,591,278
Clinton 47.7% 4,462,415
Georgia
Candidate % votes
Trump 51.4% 2,057,202
Clinton 45.5% 1,823,586
Hawaii
Candidate % votes
Clinton 62.3% 251,853
Trump 30.1% 121,648
Iowa
Candidate % votes
Trump 51.7% 798,302
Clinton 42.3% 652,437
Idaho
Candidate % votes
Trump 58.8% 382,556
Clinton 27.7% 180,277
Illinois
Candidate % votes
Clinton 55.4% 2,970,732
Trump 39.4% 2,111,200
Indiana
Candidate % votes
Trump 57.2% 1,547,249
Clinton 37.9% 1,023,609
Iowa
Candidate % votes
Trump 51.7% 798,302
Clinton 42.3% 652,437
Kansas
Candidate % votes
Trump 57.5% 639,620
Clinton 35.9% 399,299
Kentucky
Candidate % votes
Trump 62.5% 1,203,081
Clinton 32.7% 628,914
Louisiana
Candidate % votes
Trump 58.1% 1,178,004
Clinton 38.4% 779,535
Maine
Candidate % votes
Clinton 48.0% 326,042
Trump 45.0% 305,147
Maryland
Candidate % votes
Clinton 60.5% 1,497,951
Trump 35.3% 873,646
Massachusetts
Candidate % votes
Clinton 61.0% 1,899,148
Trump 33.4% 1,039,777
Michigan
Candidate % votes
Trump 47.6% 2,255,356
Clinton 47.3% 2,239,745
Minnesota
Candidate % votes
Clinton 46.8% 1,361,915
Trump 45.4% 1,319,163
Mississippi
Candidate % votes
Trump 58.1% 660,754
Clinton 39.9% 453,932
Missouri
Candidate % votes
Trump 57.1% 1,585,753
Clinton 38.0% 1,054,889
Montana
Candidate % votes
Trump 57.4% 253,528
Clinton 35.3% 156,195
Nebraska
Candidate % votes
Trump 60.3% 485,822
Clinton 34.0% 273,859
Nevada
Candidate % votes
Clinton 47.9% 537,753
Trump 45.5% 511,319
New Hampshire
Candidate % votes
Trump 47.5% 326,286
Clinton 47.4% 325,979
New Jersey
Candidate % votes
Clinton 54.8% 1,947,650
Trump 42.0% 1,489,918
New Mexico
Candidate % votes
Clinton 48.3% 380,527
Trump 40.0% 315,293
New York
Candidate % votes
Clinton 58.7% 4,053,670
Trump 37.5% 2,589,690
North Carolina
Candidate % votes
Trump 50.5% 2,339,603
Clinton 46.7% 2,162,074
North Dakota
Candidate % votes
Trump 64.1% 216,136
Clinton 27.8% 93,528
Ohio
Candidate % votes
Trump 52.1% 2,771,984
Clinton 43.5% 2,317,001
Oklahoma
Candidate % votes
Trump 65.3% 947,934
Clinton 28.9% 419,788
Oregon
Candidate % votes
Clinton 51.7% 878,298
Trump 41.3% 701,133
Pennsylvania
Candidate % votes
Trump 48.8% 2,911,986
Clinton 47.7% 2,844,084
Rhode Island
Candidate % votes
Clinton 54.9% 224,535
Trump 40.3% 165,069
South Carolina
Candidate % votes
Trump 55.6% 1,119,749
Clinton 40.0% 804,943
South Dakota
Candidate % votes
Trump 61.5% 227,576
Clinton 31.7% 117,415
Tennessee
Candidate % votes
Trump 61.1% 1,515,242
Clinton 34.9% 865,693
Texas
Candidate % votes
Trump 52.5% 4,651,955
Clinton 43.5% 3,848,617
Utah
Candidate % votes
Trump 45.5% 333,892
Clinton 28.6% 209,928
Vermont
Candidate % votes
Clinton 61.1% 173,161
Trump 32.6% 92,368
Virginia
Candidate % votes
Clinton 49.7% 1,911,574
Trump 45.0% 1,728,446
Washington
Candidate % votes
Clinton 56.4% 1,107,080
Trump 37.7% 739,202
West Virginia
Candidate % votes
Trump 68.7% 482,809
Clinton 26.5% 186,095
Wisconsin
Candidate % votes
Trump 47.9% 1,404,376
Clinton 46.9% 1,377,588
Wyoming
Candidate % votes
Trump 70.1% 174,248
Clinton 22.5% 55,949

ghanaian chronicle