Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie elected mayor of San Francisco

Wealthy Democratic outsider unseats incumbent mayor London Breed in expensive race

After years of negative headlines and post-pandemic economic struggle, San Francisco has picked a wealthy Democratic outsider with no government experience to serve as the city’s new mayor.

Daniel Lurie, 47, is one of the heirs to the Levi Strauss jeans company fortune, and previously spent 15 years as the executive of a San Francisco non-profit he founded. He defeated several Democratic challengers, including the current mayor, London Breed, in an election that was expected to break local campaign spending records.

Continue reading...

Republican Dave McCormick wins Pennsylvania Senate seat in key race

McCormick ousts incumbent Democratic Bob Casey after contentious and expensive race, widening party’s majority

The Republican Dave McCormick won the Senate race in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Thursday, denying the Democratic incumbent, Bob Casey, a fourth term and expanding his party’s majority in the upper chamber. Despite the call from the Associated Press, Casey has refused to concede the race, as the top state election official reported that tens of thousands of ballots remained uncounted.

When the AP called the race at 4.09pm ET on Thursday, two days after polls closed in Pennsylvania, McCormick led by 0.5 points. The narrow margin raised the possibility of a recount, although Casey faces an uphill climb in overcoming McCormick’s lead of roughly 30,000 votes.

Trump wins the presidency – how did it happen?

Full presidential election results and map

Abortion ballot measure results by state

Republicans retake control of the Senate

Senate, House and governor results

Continue reading...

Trump names campaign manager Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff

Wiles, who the president-elect often publicly praised for her leadership, will be first woman to hold influential role

President-elect Donald Trump has named Susie Wiles, the manager of his victorious campaign, as his White House chief of staff, the first woman to hold the influential role.

Wiles is widely credited within and outside Trump’s inner circle for running what was, by far, his most disciplined and well-executed campaign, and was seen as the leading contender for the position. She largely avoided the spotlight, even refusing to take the mic to speak as Trump celebrated his victory early on Wednesday morning.

Trump wins the presidency – how did it happen?

With Trump re-elected, this is what’s at stake

Abortion ballot measure results by state

Continue reading...

Trump picks Susie Wiles as chief of staff in first major appointment; Putin commends Trump victory – US election live

Trump says his re-election campaign manager ‘is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected’; Russian leader congratulates Trump and says he is ready to talk

Rudy Giuliani will appear in a New York City courtroom on Thursday to explain to a federal judge why he hasn’t surrendered his valuables as part of a $148m defamation judgment, the Associated Press reports.

US District Judge Lewis Liman ordered the former New York City mayor to report to court after lawyers for the two former Georgia election workers who were awarded the massive judgment visited Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment last week only to discover it had been cleared out weeks earlier.

The judge had set an 29 October deadline for the longtime ally of once-and-future President Donald Trump to surrender many of his possessions to lawyers for Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss.

Representatives for Giuliani did not respond to an email from Reuters on Wednesday seeking comment.

While Kemi Badenoch was the first politician since the US presidential election result to publicly challenge Keir Starmer over Labour’s previously tense relationship with Donald Trump, she is unlikely to be the last.

Continue reading...

Thursday briefing: What lies ahead for the US in a second Trump administration

In today’s newsletter: After winning Tuesday’s election, America’s first convicted president will assemble his transition team – here’s what we know so far about his plans

Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition

Good morning.

Kamala Harris conceded the US election to Donald Trump overnight. In a speech at Howard University, the vice-president urged supporters not to lose hope, saying “this is a time to organise, to mobilise and to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know we can build together”. Harris, hoarse from the frenzied campaign that began a little over 100 days ago, contrasted sharply with Trump following his defeat in the 2020 election, which he never formally conceded.

Environment | It is “virtually certain” that 2024 will be the hottest year on record, the European Union’s space programme has found. The prognosis comes the week before diplomats meet at the Cop29 climate summit and a day after a majority of voters in the US, the biggest historical emitter of planet-heating gas, chose to make Donald Trump president.

Middle East | Many Israelis were reeling after Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to dismiss his popular defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in the midst of a multifront war. The prime minister said he had fired Gallant over what he described a “crisis of trust”. Gallant, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party and a senior general, has been replaced by the foreign minister, Israel Katz, a Likud lawmaker and loyalist who has little military background.

Politics | The Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has apologised after parliament’s watchdog on bullying and harassment told him to do so for telling a security guard who asked for his ID to “fuck off, everyone opens the door to me”.

Economy | Rachel Reeves has committed not to increase taxes at Labour’s next budget and said the government would need to “live within the means” of her spending plans if public services came under mounting pressure.

Health | Doing just five extra minutes of exercise a day could help lower blood pressure, a study suggests. High blood pressure affects 1.28 billion adults worldwide and is one of the biggest causes of premature death. It can lead to strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, kidney damage and many other health problems, and is often described as a silent killer due to its lack of symptoms.

Continue reading...

US diplomats brace as Trump plans foreign policy shake-up in wider purge of government

Analysts say it is hard to separate the president-elect’s bluster from his actual plans but it’s clear his priority is to bin many of Joe Biden’s policies

The US foreign policy establishment is set for one of the biggest shake-ups in years as Donald Trump has vowed to both revamp US policy abroad and to root out the so-called “deep state” by firing thousands of government workers – including those among the ranks of America’s diplomatic corps.

Trump’s electoral victory is also likely to push the Biden administration to speed up efforts to support Ukraine before Trump can cut off military aid, hamper the already-modest efforts to restrain Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza and Lebanon and lead to a fresh effort to slash and burn through major parts of US bureaucracy including the state department.

Continue reading...

What will Trump do in power? – podcast

The Guardian’s Washington bureau chief, David Smith, explains how Donald Trump won a second term and what he intends to do with it

Donald Trump won a decisive victory in the US presidential election on Tuesday night, becoming the first man in 150 years to have been voted out as president and then win office again.

The Guardian’s Washington bureau chief, David Smith, explains to Lucy Hough how the night unfolded at Trump’s victory rally in Florida, and how the former president even managed to win the popular vote after months of polls predicting a knife-edge contest.

Continue reading...

US elections 2024: control of House remains unclear

Republicans make progress as results are returned, but US may have to wait days to learn chamber’s composition

Republicans have won a majority in the US Senate but control of the US House of Representatives remains unclear on Wednesday evening, with many of the most competitive races still uncalled.

With Donald Trump having won the White House, the stakes for control of the House have grown, since it could serve as either the sole Democratic check on the upcoming Trump presidency, or as the final Republican win that delivers a united pro-Trump government.

Continue reading...

Sheinbaum tells Mexicans stunning Trump win is ‘nothing to worry about’

President reassures her country as threat of US tariffs and deportations looms

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has reassured her country that “there’s nothing to worry about” after Donald Trump’s stunning victory in the US presidential election.

But Trump’s extreme campaign promises have left Mexico bracing for punishing tariffs, mass migrant deportations – and even the far-fetched but alarming suggestion of US military strikes on organised crime groups in Mexican territory.

How to watch Kamala Harris’s concession speech

Trump wins the presidency – how did it happen?

With Trump re-elected, this is what’s at stake

Tracking abortion ballot measures

Continue reading...

Republicans outline ‘first 100 days’ of Trump presidency – as it happened

This blog is closed, you can continue to follow updates on our US politics live blog here

Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States in a stunning political resurrection that sent shock waves through the country and around the world.

Trump becomes the first convicted criminal to win the White House. At 78 he is also the oldest person ever elected to the office.

Continue reading...

Starmer and Badenoch congratulate Trump on ‘historic election victory’ – UK politics live

Both PM and leader of the opposition offer congratulations with more full-throated support from Tory rightwingers such as Truss and Braverman

Another Labour politician who has criticised Donald Trump strongly in the past is Emily Thornberry, shadow foreign secretary when Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader and now chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee. In an interview on the Today programme this morning she said Trump’s victory (or apparent victory – he still has not officially hit 270 electoral college votes) was “disappointing”, and that it made the world “unpredictable”.

When it was put to her that she described him as a “racist, sexual predator” when he visited the UK during his first term as president, she replied:

Well, he is. But he is the president of the United States, and we need to work with him.

I know that many Londoners will be anxious about the outcome of the US presidential election. Many will be fearful about what it will mean for democracy and for women’s rights, or how the result impacts the situation in the Middle East or the fate of Ukraine. Others will be worried about the future of NATO or tackling the climate crisis …

The lesson of today is that progress is not inevitable. But asserting our progressive values is more important than ever - re-committing to building a world where racism and hatred is rejected, the fundamental rights of women and girls are upheld, and where we continue to tackle the crisis of climate change head on.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump elected US president in stunning political resurrection

Former president defeats Kamala Harris as voters send Republican back to White House for second term

Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States in a stunning political resurrection that sent shockwaves through America and around the world.

Trump becomes the first convicted criminal to win the White House. At 78 he is also the oldest person ever elected to the office.

Continue reading...

US elections live: Harris makes unexpected stop at DNC headquarters as millions of Americans cast their votes

Harris thanks Democratic staffers in Washington DC and says ‘we have so much work to do’ during phone-banking session

Dispatch from Grand Rapids, Michigan: They just showed a video here of Donald Trump shaving the head of Vince McMahon, the former CEO of WWE, during a wrestling event. It happened in 2007.

Needless to say, Trump hasn’t arrived yet.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump says ‘we made history’ as he closes in on victory with win in Pennsylvania – as it happened

This blog is closed. Follow our new live blog

The state of American democracy and the economy were the top issues on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots in the 2024 presidential election, according to an NBC News exit poll.

The poll’s preliminary results show 35% of voters said democracy mattered most to their vote, while 31% said the economy.

Continue reading...

A polarized America goes to the polls: ‘I’m in a house divided’

In the seven swing states that could decide whether Harris or Trump wins the election, voters feel fought over

America had previously always been “somebody else’s country,” said Christopher La Rose, a health researcher, as he waited just before 7am in Pine Lake, a village that’s too small for postal delivery just outside of Atlanta, Georgia.

But that changed recently for La Rose, who is of Guyanese descent, when he became an American citizen. He had the jitters on Monday night, before using his first-ever vote in a US election to back Kamala Harris.

Continue reading...

Oldest living survivor of Tulsa race massacre casts vote for Kamala Harris

Viola Ford Fletcher, 110, voted for the vice-president in Oklahoma, CNN reporter says

Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the Tulsa race massacre, cast her ballot in Oklahoma on Tuesday at 110 years old for Kamala Harris.

In a photo shared on social media, Fletcher is wearing an “I voted” sticker, and according to CNN journalist Abby Phillip, Fletcher voted for the vice-president, as she had previously said she would.

Continue reading...

US elections 2024: 10 key House races to watch

Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to get back control of the lower chamber – here’s what to keep an eye on

Much attention has been paid to the historic race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, but the results of down-ballot elections will determine whether the new president will actually be able to implement a legislative agenda next year.

With Republicans defending a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to wrest back control of the lower chamber, and both parties are going all out to win.

Continue reading...

Trump and Harris scramble to win votes in key states in final day of campaigning

Ex-president hurtles through four rallies across three states as vice-president puts focus on Pennsylvania

Donald Trump began hurtling through four Maga rallies across three battleground states – and delivered a dark and dystopian speech about the supposed “migrant invasion” of murderers and drug dealers – while Kamala Harris put all her last chips on Pennsylvania in a frantic final day of campaigning from both candidates.

With the polls showing the contest essentially deadlocked between two vastly different political visions, both the ex-president and the vice-president were scrambling on Monday to drive home their message. Though early voting has smashed records across the country, there is still everything to play for in cajoling undecided and unengaged voters to the polls on election day.

Don’t miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts

When do polls close?

How the electoral college works

Where is abortion on the ballot?

Senate and House races to watch

Lessons from the key swing states

Trump v Harris on key issues

What’s at stake in this election

What to know about the US election

Continue reading...

US elections live updates: Harris and Trump make final pitches in crucial state of Pennsylvania

Judge rejects legal challenge against Musk’s $1m giveaways; Harris vows to be ‘a president for all Americans’

Here is a look back at some of the more memorable pictures of the 2024 US presidential campaign:

In an interview with NBC News, Donald Trump did not rule out banning certain vaccines if he was elected to a second presidential term.

Continue reading...

US election offices increase security measures amid ongoing threats

Arizona official notes that hardened tactics, including active shooter drills, offer ‘sad commentary’ on country

Elections offices in the US have hardened their security measures this year, anticipating potential violence based on experience since 2020 and during an ongoing rise in threats and harassment focused on election workers.

Many offices have now trained their workers on de-escalation tactics. They’ve run drills for active shooters or other disturbances. They have a process for flagging the threats that could be criminal and seeking law enforcement help when needed.

Don’t miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts

Continue reading...