Donald Trump takes Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia; Hillary Clinton gets Vermont as count begins

America's ugly and unpredictable presidential election neared the finish Tuesday, with voters finally deciding between Democrat Hillary Clinton, hoping to become the first woman to serve as commander in chief, and Republican Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman who tapped into a searing strain of economic populism.

It’s tight: Will Florida, NC, Ohio decide the winner?

America's ugly and unpredictable presidential election barreled toward the finish Tuesday night, with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump fighting for Florida, North Carolina and Ohio, three of the nation's most competitive states. Clinton, a fixture in American politics for decades, was hoping to become the first woman to serve as commander in chief.

Trump’s son: Dad will respect result if it’s ‘fair election’

Donald Trump, Jr. told CNN's New Day Tuesday that he thinks his father "will remain involved somewhat" if he loses the election. He said he hopes that the energy surrounding his father's campaign "goes back to the people we are trying to fight for, the people who haven't had a voice in a long time."

Today, let’s hope Trump’s lies, xenophobia and misogyny seal his doom

If Hillary Clinton wins today, one of the big stories of Campaign 2016 will be this: The reactionary, revanchist posture that Donald Trump wielded to drive up his performance with white male voters ended up provoking an opposite and more intense reaction from nonwhites and women - one that ultimately swamped the Trump electorate. Trump positioned himself as a kind of final bulwark against browning, culturally evolving America, but in the end, his true legacy may be that he accelerated that ongoing transformation's electoral impact.

Record turnout expected as voters head to polls

Across the country there are congressional races to be decided, amendments to state constitutions to be voted on and new laws to be considered, but all eyes are on the one election being contested in all 50 states - president. It's been a contentious affair with allegations of corruption on both sides, temperaments being declared disqualifying, charges of racism and a threat of imprisonment.

Janet Reno, former US attorney general, dies at age 78

Janet Reno, who was the first woman to serve as U.S. attorney general but also became the epicenter of multiple political storms during the Clinton administration, died early Monday. She was 78. Reno died from complications of Parkinson's disease, her goddaughter Gabrielle D'Alemberte said, adding that Reno spent her final days at home in Miami surrounded by family and friends.

Ivanka: “My father is just the messengerthis is your movement”

The 35-year-old fashion model turned entrepreneur, and now head of the Trump organization took the stage, joined by her sister, Tiffany, 22, where both talked to a crowd of Republicans about why their dad should be the next U.S. President. "My father is just the messengerthis is your movement," said Ivanka Trump.

Obama slams Donald Trump in Michigan: ‘Never shown any regard for working folks’

President Obama told a rally Monday that Donald Trump was anti-union and anti-worker, attempting to chip away the Republican presidential nominee's support across the Rust Belt. "When I tell you that Donald Trump is not the guy who is going to look out for you, you ought to listen," Mr. Obama said at a rally for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Final Pre-Election Day Tidbits

Someone will throw up an open thread tomorrow for so-called " Election Day " , including possibly me, in the meantime: Kudos to the IRS - if ever there were an election where a Presidential Candidate's tax returns were going to be leaked to the press this was it, especially considering the GOP has engaged in a years long, mostly bogus, crusade against the IRS vilifying the agency and its employees again and again and again and accusing the Obama Administration of using the agency as a political weapon. And yet, as of the day before the election, nothing.

Federal Judge Concerned About Small Number of Christians Among Syrian Refugees Admitted to US

Holding crosses painted in the colors of the Syrian opposition flag, Syrian Christians protest persecution in their homeland The American people have been given no good explanation for the "perplexing discrepancy" between the tiny proportion of Christians among Syrian refugees resettled in the U.S. and the considerably larger proportion of Christians in the Syrian population, a federal appellate court judge has written. In a concurring opinion in a case relating to immigration policy, Judge Daniel Manion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit expressed his "concern about the apparent lack of Syrian Christians as a part of immigrants from that country."

Clinton amnesty plan would cost taxpayers $1.2 trillion

Hillary Clinton's plan to bring 11 million illegal aliens "out of the shadows" would cost American households an immediate tax increase of $1.2 trillion, or $15,000 per household, according to a study by the National Academy of Sciences. In examining the study, the Heritage Foundation found that the immediate tax increases would be imposed to pay for the infrastructure, school, welfare and other costs of illegals.

In 2011, Trump said he supported a amnestya for some undocumented immigrants

In an appearance in November of 2011 on "Fox and Friends," Trump defended former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, then a candidate for the Republican nomination, who was being criticized by his opponent Michele Bachmann for saying at a debate that he wanted "a humane" approach to the subject of illegal immigration which would avoid deporting families rooted in American communities. Trump signaled he liked Gingrich's approach, agreeing with a Fox host's description that it could be called amnesty.

Republican challenges three-term Democratic congressman

That's the uphill battle Republican challenger H. Powell Dew Jr. of Stantonsburg has to climb in his attempt to upset longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Democrat, in the race for the 1st Congressional District seat in Tuesday's election. Dew, a pastor who sits on the Stantonsburg Town Council, said from talking to his legion of supporters, he feels a change in District 1 is needed.

VP candidate Kaine delivers speech in Spanish in Phoenix

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine on Thursday delivered what may be the first presidential campaign speech entirely in Spanish as part of Hillary Clinton's push into traditionally Republican Arizona. The senator from Virginia spoke entirely in Spanish for about half hour a small crowd in a largely Hispanic area of Phoenix.