PHOENIX — Donald Trump was ahead of Kamala Harris by about 100,000 votes in Arizona's initial election returns for the U.S. presidential race as of Wednesday morning. However Arizona's results are unlikely to sway the presidential election after the Associated Press called the race in Trump's favor.
As of 3:45 a.m., Trump had about 50.9% of the votes released in the Grand Canyon State's initial batch of election results. Harris had 47.2%
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Trump toma la delantera por menos de 1% en Arizona, según resultados preliminares
Arizona has become one of a handful of battleground states that's expected to determine whether Trump or Harris will be elected to the White House.
President Joe Biden narrowly won the Grand Canyon State in 2020 over Trump by about 10,000 votes. Biden was the first Democrat to claim Arizona's electoral votes since Bill Clinton's victory in 1996.
In the five subsequent presidential races, Arizona had reliably swayed for the Republican candidates, including Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Several polls going into the general election showed Trump with a slight lead over Harris in Arizona and Republicans had a six-point registration advantage over Democrats.
But the election would ultimately be decided, in part, by Arizona's growing number of non-affiliated voters. Before Election Day, the state reported having over 1.4 million independent voters.
The Trump and Harris campaigns prioritized Arizona during the election by making multiple trips to appeal to the state's undecided voters. The two presidential candidates both visited the Valley on Halloween.
Border security, immigration, inflation and housing costs have all been primary topics covered on the presidential campaign trail in Arizona.
