NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to unify a deeply divided nation, having scored a stunning victory backed by extraordinary support from working-class America.

The tough-talking New York billionaire claimed victories in the nation’s premier battleground states, but his appeal across the industrial Midwest — Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, in particular — sealed a victory that defied pre-election polls and every expectation of the political establishment.

“I say it is time for us to come together as one united people,” Trump told supporters gathered in a Manhattan hotel near his Trump Tower campaign headquarters.

“For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people, I’m reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so we can work together and unify our great country,” he said, the stage crowded with family and his most loyal allies.

Trump addressed the nation after sweeping most of the nation’s top battlegrounds — and created some new ones.

 

Such a beautiful and important evening! The forgotten man and woman will never be forgotten again. We will all come together as never before

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2016

He won Ohio, Florida and North Carolina. He also took down the Democratic Party’s “blue firewall” by scoring victories in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, states that haven’t supported a Republican presidential candidate since 1988 and 1984 respectively.

Trump’s win shocked political professionals and global financial markets alike. But it created pure joy inside the hotel ballroom where hundreds of Trump supporters waited for hours for his celebration speech. They hugged each other, chanted “USA!” and bellowed “God bless America” at the top of their lungs.

House Speaker Paul Ryan called Trump Tuesday night to congratulate him on his “incredible victory.”

“We are eager to work hand-in-hand with the new administration to advance an agenda to improve the lives of the American people,” Ryan, who had a rocky relationship with Trump at times, said in a statement. “This has been a great night for our party, and now we must turn our focus to bringing the country together.”

While Democrat Hillary Clinton was trying to make history as the first female president, Trump made a different kind of history as one of the least experienced presidential candidates ever elected.

A businessman and former reality TV star, he is a true political outsider in a way that marks a sharp break from past presidents.

Some were branded resume lightweights: ex-governors George W. Bush of Texas, Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Ronald Reagan of California, among them. But they had served somewhere — whether in Congress, states or in a leadership post in an administration.

Trump’s outsider status ultimately helped him politically far more than it hurt.

His political inexperience allowed him to cast himself as a change agent just as frustrated voters in both parties were hungry for change. The message was particularly effective against Clinton, a fixture in public service over the last three decades.

Ever the showman, his strategy relied almost exclusively on massive rallies to connect with voters, ignoring the grunt work that typically fuels successful campaigns.

Pre-election polls suggested he was the least popular presidential nominee in the modern era.

Yet there were signs that Republicans who previously vowed never to support Trump were willing to give him a chance moving forward.

“If Trump wins, he does deserve the benefit of the doubt because he was right on his chances and so many of us were wrong,” tweeted conservative leader Erick Erickson.

View individual Kansas county election results here

Party Seats %

Democratic 40 32

Republican 85 68

Party Seats %

Democratic 9 22

Republican 31 77

President Precincts Reporting: 3509 of 3509

Candidate Votes i-Jill Stein 22,698 D-Hillary Rodham Clinton 414,788 L-Gary Johnson 53,648 R-Donald J. Trump 656,009

US Senate Precincts Reporting: 3509 of 3509

Candidate Votes D-Patrick Wiesner 368,672 L-Robert D. Garrard 63,428 R-Jerry Moran 716,661

US House 1 Precincts Reporting: 1340 of 1340

Candidate Votes i-Alan LaPolice 66,218 L-Kerry Burt 18,415 R-Roger Marshall 166,051

US House 2 Precincts Reporting: 923 of 923

Candidate Votes D-Britani Potter 94,561 L-James Houston Bales 18,700 R-Lynn Jenkins 177,851

US House 3 Precincts Reporting: 630 of 630

Candidate Votes D-Jay Sidie 135,778 L-Steven A. Hohe 26,897 R-Kevin Yoder 171,647

US House 4 Precincts Reporting: 642 of 642

Candidate Votes i-Miranda Allen 18,358 D-Daniel B. Giroux 78,822 L-Gorden J. Bakken 7,420 R-Michael Pompeo 163,406

Supreme 1 Precincts Reporting: 3469 of 3509

Candidate Votes   Carol A. Beier – “YES” 602,051   Carol A. Beier – “NO” 470,937

Supreme 2 Precincts Reporting: 3469 of 3509

Candidate Votes   Dan Biles – “YES” 592,031   Dan Biles – “NO” 474,865

Supreme 3 Precincts Reporting: 3469 of 3509

Candidate Votes   Lawton R. Nuss – “YES” 588,400   Lawton R. Nuss – “NO” 476,936

Supreme 5 Precincts Reporting: 3469 of 3509

Candidate Votes   Marla Luckert – “YES” 595,480   Marla Luckert – “NO” 468,914

Supreme 7 Precincts Reporting: 3469 of 3509

Candidate Votes   Caleb Stegall – “YES” 753,935   Caleb Stegall – “NO” 310,371

CA Precincts Reporting: 3469 of 3509

Candidate Votes   Constitutional Amendment – “YES” 913,092   Constitutional Amendment – “NO” 209,533

NEW YORK (AP) — Hillary Clinton conceded the presidency to Donald Trump in a phone call early Wednesday morning, a stunning end to a campaign that appeared poised to make her the nation’s first female president right up until Election Day.

Clinton called Trump after it became clear that the celebrity businessman had won enough states to capture the White House. But she made no public appearance before supporters who had gathered under the glass ceiling of New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center planning to celebrate what was expected to be her historic victory.

“We’re still counting votes and every vote should count,” campaign chairman John Podesta said in brief remarks before the shrinking audience. “Several states are still close to call and we’re not going to have anything more to say tonight.” Clinton planned to make a statement later Wednesday morning.

But inside the venue, the mood had already grown increasingly grim as Trump captured battleground states like Florida, North Carolina and Ohio and shattered a longstanding “blue wall” of states in the Upper Midwest that had backed every Democratic presidential candidate since her husband, Bill Clinton, won the presidency in 1992.

“My disappointment makes me not trust the rest of the world,” said Katie Fahey, who had flown to New York from Grand Rapids, Michigan, wearing a red pantsuit, expecting a victory party. “I don’t even want to go out. I want to wear sweatpants and curl myself up in a corner.”

The results were startling to Clinton and her aides, who had ended their campaign with a whirlwind tour of battleground states and had projected optimism that she would maintain the diverse coalition assembled by President Barack Obama in the past two elections. Clinton, her family and close aides hunkered down to watch returns at a Manhattan hotel suite.

Clinton’s stunning loss was certain to open painful soul-searching within the party, which had endured a lengthy primary between Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who drew strong support among liberals amid an electorate calling for change. Clinton repeatedly called Trump unfit and unqualified for the presidency and in the closing days, Obama told supporters in North Carolina that “the fate of the Republic rests on your shoulders.”

“The mistake that we made is that we ignored the powerful part of Trump’s message because we hated so much of the rest of his message. The mistake we made is that people would ignore that part and just focus on the negative,” said Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis, who was not affiliated with the campaign.

The tumultuous presidential cycle bequeathed a series of political gifts for Clinton’s GOP rival: An FBI investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server, questions of pay-for-play involving her family’s charitable foundation, Sanders’ primary challenge, Clinton’s health scare at a Sept. 11 memorial ceremony and FBI Director James Comey’s late October announcement that investigators had uncovered emails potentially relevant to her email case.

Yet her team spent the bulk of their time focused on attacking Trump, while failing to adequately address Clinton’s deep liabilities — or the wave of frustration roiling the nation.

Every time the race focused on Clinton, her numbers dropped, eventually making her one of the least liked presidential nominees in history. And she offered an anxious electorate a message of breaking barriers and the strength of diversity — hardly a rallying cry — leaving her advisers debating the central point of her candidacy late into the primary race.

Nearly a year into her campaign, she still was searching for a message that would address that anger and present a forward-looking vision for the country.

“Do we have any sense from her what she believes or wants her core message to be?” asked chief strategist Joel Benenson, in a February 2016 email, about a memo laying out her message.

His message was part of an October WikiLeaks hack that exposed many of the campaign’s battles in the crucial final weeks of the campaign.

Clinton’s campaign was infuriated by a late October announcement by Comey that investigators had uncovered emails that may have been pertinent to the dormant investigation into Clinton’s use of private emails while secretary of state. On the Sunday before the election, Comey told lawmakers that the bureau had found no evidence in its hurried review of newly discovered emails to warrant criminal charges against Clinton.

But the announcement may have damaged Clinton while her campaign tried to generate support in early voting in battleground states like Florida and North Carolina. In the nine days between Comey’s initial statement until his “all clear” announcement, nearly 24 million people cast early ballots. That was about 18 percent of the expected total votes for president.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the election in Kansas (all times local):

Kansas voters appeared to be blocking a push from conservatives to give Republican Gov. Sam Brownback a chance to remake the Kansas Supreme Court.

They also ousted some of his allies from the Legislature in a backlash over the state’s budget problems.

Five of the Supreme Court’s justices were on the ballot in Tuesday’s election for a yes-or-no decision by voters statewide on whether they remain on the bench. Results favored their retention.

Four were appointed by previous governors and strongly criticized by conservatives, abortion opponents and critics of rulings overturning death sentences in capital murder cases.

But the court’s defenders benefited from voters’ frustration with the state’s fiscal woes.

At least nine Republicans in the Kansas House lost their seats to Democratic challengers.

Republican nominee Donald Trump has carried Kansas in the presidential race as expected and Kansas Republicans have won all four of the state’s U.S. House seats.

GOP Sen. Jerry Moran cruised to an easy re-election Tuesday, and voters approved an amendment to the state constitution to protect hunting and fishing.

The most competitive congressional race was in the 3rd District in the Kansas City area, but GOP incumbent Kevin Yoder dashed the best hopes Democrats had for picking up a seat in Congress since 2008.

Secretary of State Kris Kobach had predicted that a record 1.3 million of the state’s 1.8 million registered voters would participate. More than 505,000 ballots were cast in advance, 47 percent more than before the last presidential election in 2012.

———-

 

10:05 p.m.

A conservative Kansas House member who left the Democratic Party over social issues has lost her seat two years after becoming a Republican.

State Rep. Jan Pauls lost to fellow Hutchinson resident and Democrat Patsy Terrell in Tuesday’s election in the 102nd District of south-central Kansas. Terrell is a writer and self-employed public relations and social media specialist.

Pauls is a strong opponent of abortion and gay rights. She won her Democratic primary in 2012 by only eight votes, and many Democrats questioned whether she could win another in 2014. She said the Democratic Party grew increasingly hostile to her.

Pauls has served in the House since 1991. In December 2015, House Speaker Ray Merrick named her chairwoman of the House committee that handles legislation on abortion and gay rights.

 

——

Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo has defeated a Wichita attorney to keep his House seat representing the 4th District of south-central Kansas.

Pompeo defeated Democrat Daniel B. Giroux to win a fourth, two-year term in November. The Republican incumbent first captured the House seat in 2010.

He ran unopposed in his party’s primary.

_____

9:50 p.m.

A Republican lawmaker in Topeka has lost his Kansas House seat to the Democrat that he narrowly defeated two years ago.

State Rep. Lane Hemsley was defeated by former state Rep. Virgil Weigel in Tuesday’s election in the 56th District.

Weigel retired as an agent of the Department of Revenue’s Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control in 2011 and won the House seat the next year with a little less than 52 percent of the vote.

Hemsley is an attorney who defeated Weigel in 2014 by 40 votes out of more than 8,900 cast.

Democrats saw an opportunity to regain the seat because of voter discontent with Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and the state’s ongoing budget problems. Hemsley tried to distance himself from the governor on tax and education issues.

____

9:45 p.m.

Kansas voters have signed off on amending the state constitution declaring that Kansas residents have the right to hunt, fish and trap wildlife.

The measure will add a section to the state’s Bill of Rights to explicitly preserve hunting and fishing as a preferred way to manage wildlife. Any future measures seeking to limit hunting or fishing would need proof that a particular animal could become endangered.

Kansas now is among roughly 20 states in which hunting and fishing are a constitutional right.

Proponents say the measure is a pre-emptive safeguard against possible restrictions such as pushes to ban hunting and fishing outright or incrementally. Opponents counter that the measure might prevent citizens from stepping in to prevent unsportsmanlike practices.

—–

8:55 p.m.

A doctor who ousted U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp in the Republican primary has now won the seat representing Kansas’ 1st Congressional District, spanning much of central and western Kansas.

Great Bend obstetrician Roger Marshall defeated Clifton farmer and educator Alan LaPolice, who was running as an independent. There was no Democratic candidate in the race in the heavily Republican district.

Marshall made national headlines in the August primary when he ousted Huelskamp, a tea party favorite who was a persistent annoyance to GOP leaders. Huelskamp lost his seat on the House Agriculture Committee in 2012.

Marshall received primary race endorsements from the Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Livestock Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

——

Republican Rep. Lynn Jenkins has batted back a Democratic challenge from an Ottawa school board member to hold on to her congressional seat in the 2nd District of Kansas.

Jenkins defeated Democrat Britani Potter to win a fifth, two-year term. Jenkins is the senior member of the state’s U.S. House delegation.

Both candidates ran unopposed in their respective primaries.

——–

8:10 p.m.

Kansas voters have sent U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran back to Washington, D.C., to represent them.

The Republican incumbent easily defeated Democrat Patrick Wiesner, a Lawrence attorney, in the deep red state of Kansas.

Moran was first elected to the Senate in 2010. He previously represented the state’s 1st congressional district from 1997 to 2010.

Kansas hasn’t elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1932.

___

8 p.m.

Republican Donald Trump has fulfilled expectations that he’d carry Kansas in the presidential election.

The election Tuesday confirmed the state’s status as a GOP stronghold in national elections. The last Democratic presidential nominee to carry the state was Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

The brash New York businessman was always considered likely to pick up the state’s six electoral votes even though Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the state’s GOP caucuses in March and many top GOP officials backed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

While lukewarm in their support for Trump, many Kansas Republicans couldn’t stomach voting for Democratic nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Former President Bill Clinton averaged less than 35 percent of the vote in Kansas in his presidential races in 1992 and 1996.

___
12:55 p.m.

Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office says the number of early ballots cast in Kansas is 47 percent higher than it was for the last presidential election in 2012.

Kobach’s office said as of early Tuesday morning, more than 505,000 Kansas voters had cast ballots by mail or in person at sites set up by county election officials.

The figure was about 344,000 for the morning of the 2012 election.

Kobach has predicted that a record 1.3 million voters will participate in this year’s election.

Voters have mailed in early ballots at a slightly higher rate than they did in 2012.

Early in-person voting increased nearly 87 percent before it ended at noon Monday.

About 332,000 people cast early ballots in-person this year. The figure for 2012 was 178,000.

____

9:45 a.m.

Kansas voters are casting their ballots in an election that is expected to draw record turnout.

In the Kansas City suburb of Mission, 62-year-old Belinda Hedrick voted Tuesday morning for Hillary Clinton. She says she is an independent voter and is disgusted with the way Donald Trump has run his campaign. She also says she hates how the election has “divided our country.”

In Topeka, Republican James Aubey says he voted for Trump because he supported his stance on trade issues. The 55-year-old nurse also said he liked that Trump was discussing immigration.

Early voting was about 40 percent higher than it was before the last presidential election in 2012. Secretary of State Kris Kobach predicted that about 1.3 million voters would participate before polls closed Tuesday.

____

7 a.m.

Polls have opened across Kansas in an election that some official believe will have a record number of voters casting ballots.

Early voting was about 40 percent higher than it was before the last presidential election in 2012. Secretary of State Kris Kobach predicted that about 1.3 million voters would participate before polls closed Tuesday.

In Topeka, 55-year-old contractor John Braun voted Monday at the county elections office. He’s politically unaffiliated and voted for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

He said tax issues are important to him and he doesn’t like the idea of requiring someone to pay a higher income tax rate because he or she is wealthy. He said people are smart enough to do well financially, they should be allowed to keep their money.

____

12:01 a.m.

Republican nominee Donald Trump was expected to carry Kansas in the presidential race, and GOP Sen. Jerry Moran was headed to an easy re-election victory in Tuesday’s election.

Kansas was always seen as safe for Trump because a Democrat hasn’t won the state since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

Moran faced little-known Lawrence attorney and accountant Patrick Wiesner in seeking a second, two-year term in the Senate.

Voters were likely to approve an amendment to the state constitution to protect hunting and fishing. Republicans anticipated winning all four of the state’s U.S. House seats.

Polls are to open by 7 a.m. statewide.

The state has 1.8 million registered voters. Secretary of State Kris Kobach predicted that a record 1.3 million of them would cast ballots for a turnout of 72 percent.

FINNEY COUNTY- A Kansas teen was injured in an accident in the parking lot of Garden City High School.

Just before 4 p.m. on Monday, officers of the Garden City Police Department were dispatched to the High School, 2720 Buffalo Way Boulevard, for a reported injury accident, according to a media release.

Officers located a 13-year-old girl with head injuries.

The investigation revealed she was riding on the hood of a 1996 Chevy Silverado truck through the parking lot when the driver, Miranda Canal, Garden City, stopped abruptly causing the girl to fall from the vehicle.

The 13-year-old was transported to St Catherin’s Hospital for treatment and later transferred to Via Christie St. Francis Hospital in Wichita.

Canal was cited and released on scene for reckless driving.

DICKINSON COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Dickinson County are investigating a burglary and asking the public for help.

During the overnight hours of November 4th, unknown suspects stole the beloved Russell Stover Candies bear from in front of their factory in Abilene, according to Abilene police.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dickinson County Crime Stoppers at 1-888-5DK-TIPS.

WICHITA— A Kansas man accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old girl, critically injuring her sister and raping their mother is charged with first-degree murder.

Sedgwick County prosecutors filed charges Tuesday against Hassan Wright, 47 who is related to the mother. He’s jailed on $1 million bond.

Wichita police responding to a vehicle accident Friday found the 6-year-old and her 24-year-old mother stabbed inside a Jeep in a strip mall’s parking lot. The girl died at a hospital.

Her 4-year-old sister, also stabbed, was found miles away wandering in a field.

Case documents that would show whether Wright had an attorney weren’t available online Tuesday. Calls to the jail seeking the same information rang unanswered.

-The AP contributed to this report.