Donald Trump defied the pundits, the political establishment, the polls and the projections ever since he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president. In a crowded field he won that nomination.
On Tuesday he defied expectations again, winning election as the 45th president of the United States, defeating Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton. Trump said he received a call from Clinton congratulating him on his victory.
“Now it’s time for American to bind the wounds of division,” Trump said to his supporters at a gather in New York. “It is time for us to come together as one united people. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be the president for all Americans.”
Trump said the country has “tremendous potential.”
“Every single American will have the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential,” he said. “The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.”
Trump said his economic plan will “will double our economic growth and we will have the strongest economy in the world…America will no longer settle for anything less than the best.”
Trump was the winner in Wisconsin, earning the state’s 10 electoral votes. It was the first time a Republican candidate for president was victorious in Wisconsin since Ronald Reagan won the state in his 1984 national landslide re-election victory.
A Trump victory in Wisconsin would defy the Marquette University Law School poll, which last week indicated that Clinton had a 6 point lead on Trump in Wisconsin.
Clinton had strong support in the Democratic Party strongholds of Milwaukee County and Dane County, but Trump beat her in several western Wisconsin counties that were won by Barack Obama.
Clinton did not visit Wisconsin during the general election campaign. WisPolitics.com, a media partner of BizTimes Milwaukee, reported that of the 14 states that saw the most presidential ads, Wisconsin was the only one where Donald Trump and his allies put up more spots than Hillary Clinton and her backers, according to analysis by the Center for Public Integrity.
In another win for Republicans in Wisconsin, Sen. Ron Johnson was re-elected, defeating Democrat Russ Feingold, whom Johnson unseated six years ago.
“Obviously something is happening in this country tonight,” Feingold told supporters, according to WisPolitics.com. “I don’t understand it completely. I don’t think anybody does…this could be one of the most challenging times in the history of our country.”
Johnson was the first Republican to win a U.S. Senate race in Wisconsin during a presidential year since Bob Kasten in 1980.
“I believe America has given us a chance, an opportunity to put this nation on the right path,” Johnson said, according to WisPolitics.com. “It’s exactly what I intend to do.”
Johnson says he will not seek re-election after his second term.
“I approach the next six years with a seriousness of purpose,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a shot, we’ve got a chance, we’ve got to put America on the right path.”
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