NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-05-2024 9PM EST

Episode Date: November 6, 2024

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Okay, so does this sound like you? You love NPR's podcasts, you wish you could get more of all your favorite shows, and you want to support NPR's mission to create a more informed public. If all that sounds appealing, then it is time to sign up for the NPR Plus bundle. Learn more at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. As polls close in Arizona and Michigan and Wisconsin with our combined 36 electoral votes, it is shaping up to be a long night. NPR's national political correspondent Sarah McCammon joins me now. Sarah, you've been keeping a close eye on voters who supported Nikki Haley in the Republican primaries. Vice President Harris has tried to win over many of those Republican

voters. What have you heard from them? Right. Conservative-leaning voters who are uncomfortable with Donald Trump have been a key part of the Harris campaign strategy. And supporters of former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley have been a big focus of that effort. You know, I covered that campaign. Many said they were voting for Haley because they didn't want Trump to be the nominee. And even after she dropped out of the Republican primary, she still got double digit support in several states,

including places like Pennsylvania, which is of course a swing state. She got 160,000 votes almost there in a state that Biden won by about 80,000 votes in 2020, which just illustrates the significance of that group. Now, there isn't a lot of polling of this group, but a couple of recent polls have suggested that even though Haley herself has endorsed Trump, Harris may be making some progress with these types of voters. This is the first presidential election since the Supreme Court overturned

Roe vs. Wade. There are 11 abortion-related ballot measures across the country. Yeah. In the past two years since the Supreme Court's Dobs decision overturning row, abortion rights advocates have seen a lot of success with ballot measures. Each time a question related to abortion has been put directly to voters, voters have signaled support for abortion access. And tonight there are 11 measures in 10 states. That's because Nebraska has two competing measures on the ballot, one that would essentially protect abortion rights and another that would restrict abortion. A couple of other key states to watch include Arizona,

which is also a critical presidential state, and also Missouri, where abortion is currently illegal in almost all cases. Last year, voters in Ohio were able to overturn abortion restrictions in that state through a constitutional amendment that they passed on the ballot, just to illustrate what these ballot initiatives can do. And here's Sarah McKinnon.

Thanks, Sarah. A lot of ice tonight, meanwhile, in the so-called seven swing states include the Blue Wall states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. And here's Don Garnay says all the math here is important. Democrats need those three states as a part of their best kind of coalition, their best path to capture the White House. If they lose one of those, they got to pick it up somewhere else. And that gets complicated. That gets harder.

We may have results in Michigan sooner than in some past presidential contest. All three of the Blue Wall states are still too close to call. North Carolina Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein has won the state's race for governor. That's according to a race called by the Associated Press, Stein defeating Republican Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson. You're listening to NPR News in Washington. Voters across the nation are going to decide the composition of both the Senate and House. Democrats are mostly playing defense in the Senate, where they hold a very slim majority.

Republicans need a net gain of just two seats for outright control. Democrats defending 23 seats in the Senate compared to just 11 for Republicans. Democrats need to win more of those toss-up seats to tip the balance in their favor. Vice President Harris will be tracking the results tonight in the election watch party at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington. If she wins, she would make history as the first U.S. president to graduate from a historically black college university. Sen. Piro S. Dipa Shivram reports Harris called into Atlanta radio show this morning to talk about what

the school means to her. Harris often talks about the impact Howard had on her identity and her desire to become a lawyer. Howard is where she pledged her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. And as she told the Big Tigger Morning Show, it's where she ran her first campaign as freshman class rep. To go back tonight to Howard University, my beloved alma mater, and be able to hopefully recognize this day for what it is, it's full circle for me. Former President Trump is spending election night with family and friends in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Deepa Sivaram, NPR News, Washington. Rafael is now a hurricane as it moves through the southern Caribbean. The category 1 storm has maximum sustained winds of 75 miles an hour and is currently approaching the Cayman Islands. When near or over western Cuba tomorrow, then moving to the Gulf of Mexico by tomorrow night, meteorologists caution it's too soon to determine what impacts it may have in the northern Gulf. This is NPR.