Vice President Kamala Harris campaign manager preached patience and told staff to get a good nights sleep - as the mood at her election night shindig at Howard University turned tense.
As betting markets and The New York Times election needle predicted a Trump win, Harris campaign manager Jen OMalley Dillon pushed that a path to victory was still possible through the blue wall of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
As midnight approached, North Carolina slipped away from Harris - a state President Joe Biden narrowly lost to Trump - but the remaining six battleground states were up for grabs.
What we do know is this race is not going to come into focus until the early morning hours, OMalley Dillon wrote in a memo, obtained by DailyMail.com. This is what we’ve been built for, so let’s finish up what we have in front of us tonight, get some sleep, and get ready to close out strong tomorrow.
The Harris campaign said that in Pennsylvania - the nights biggest prize - they overperformed turnout expectations in Philadelphia and in the early vote count in Bucks County.
Vice President Kamala Harris supporters react to election returns that show the Democrat falling behind former Republican President Donald Trump. Harris supporters were gathered at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, D.C.
In Michigan, the Harris campaign said there were still outstanding votes from Detroit - a heavily blue area - and in Wisconsin there was still outstanding votes to be counted in Dane and Milwaukee counties.
Complete results from Wisconsin, the campaign said, wouldnt be available until between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. Wednesday.
The campaign also pointed out that Arizona and Nevada could still provide the Democrat with a boost.
We’ve been saying for weeks that this race might not be called tonight. Those of you who were around in 2020 know this well: It takes time for all the votes to be counted – and all the votes will be counted, OMalley Dillon said. That’s how our system works. What we do know is this race is not going to come into focus until the early morning hours.
A big difference between 2024 and 2020 is that fewer voters - which leaned Democratic - used mail-in ballots and some states processed them faster.
Four years ago, that meant Trump votes were often counted first - as his supporters voted in-person - and Biden votes were counted last.
This year it looks like there are both Harris and Trump votes that still need to be counted - so the Harris campaign cant count on large batches of outstanding votes that will put her over the line.
Supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris sit down in Howard Universitys quad and watch as election results point to a potential Donald Trump win
Vice President Kamala Harris took part in a phone bank earlier Tuesday at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C. She spent Election Night at her Naval Observatory residence
At her election night party, at her alma mater of Howard, the early excitement in the air turned to dread.
One bright spot was when the jumbotron in the university quad played the victory speech of Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, who run Marylands open Senate seat over the states former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
As midnight approached, supporters started leaving campus, as there was no sign that Harris would address the audience.
Harris remained at her Naval Observatory residence.