WASHINGTON (AP) — If it wasn’t a red wave in the nation’s most consequential battleground, there was at least a red swell.

Donald Trump reclaimed Pennsylvania by improving his margins across the state, shaving Democratic President Joe Biden’s 2020 win in Philadelphia, expanding his own dominance in rural parts of the state, and — at the time The Associated Press called the race at 2:24 a.m. ET — flipping key suburban counties to the GOP column.

Trump led the state by some 175,000 votes at the time the AP called the race. Even if Vice President Kamala Harris were to carry the outstanding votes — which included ballots from counties she was losing — by 20 points over Trump, she still would not be able to close the gap.

Trump’s victory showed up across the state. In populous suburban Philadelphia’s Bucks County and neighboring Northampton County, Trump was leading — two places seen as bellwethers that Biden won four years ago. Trump did several points better in the populous Philadelphia suburbs of Chester and Delaware. He was winning in Erie in the northwest corner of the state, which Biden took narrowly four years ago.

Even in the Democratic stronghold of Philadelphia, Trump was doing 3 percentage points better than he did four years ago.

CANDIDATES: President: Harris (D) vs. Trump (R) vs. Chase Oliver (Libertarian) vs. Jill Stein (Green).

WINNER: Trump

POLL CLOSING TIME: 8 p.m. ET

ABOUT THE RACE: The biggest contested prize this year, Pennsylvania saw dozens of visits by Harris and Trump — more than any state.

The state was where Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler over the summer. He has appeared at rallies and events across the state and donned an apron at a McDonald’s in suburban Philadelphia in an effort to connect with voters.

Harris appeared at the site where George Washington crossed the Delaware River during the Revolutionary War to highlight her support from some Republicans disillusioned by Trump. She held a get-out-the-vote rally in Philadelphia — a major source of Democratic support — in the race’s waning days.

Trump carried the state by a single point in 2016, while Biden defeated him by 1 point in 2020.

Pennsylvania struggled with a relatively new early voting option, which permitted voters to request mail ballots that could be cast before Election Day.

Unlike early voting in other states that have polling places, Pennsylvania counties saw lines of people seeking to get early mail ballots in part after Trump and billionaire Elon Musk encouraged Republicans to embrace mail-in voting. In 2020, Trump said baselessly that mail ballots were rife with fraud.

WHY AP CALLED THE RACE: Trump performed better in traditionally Democratic Philadelphia than Biden did four years ago and improved his margins in key populous suburban counties. The race was called when it became clear that even if Harris won the outstanding votes by a wider margin than she had been, she couldn’t close the gap.

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Learn more about how and why the AP declares winners in U.S. elections at Explaining Election 2024, a series from The Associated Press aimed at helping make sense of the American democracy. The AP receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Paul Rudd made a surprise appearance at universities in Pennsylvania to hand out water to students waiting in hours-long lines to vote.

While reporting live from Philadelphia’s Temple University, MSNBC National Correspondent Jacob Soboroff spotted the “Ant-Man” and “I Love You, Man” star and sprinted over to him.

“Hey, Paul, I’m on live with Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC!” Soboroff said before asking the actor what brought him out to Pennsylvania voting lines.

“I just wanted to give people water,” Rudd said. “They’re waiting in line for a long time, and it’s a wonderful thing that all these young people are out voting.”

When Soboroff told Rudd that some people have waited up to two hours to vote, Rudd said, “That’s impressive.”

“We’ve been doing lots of stuff today here in Pennsylvania,” Rudd said. “We wanted to come out and tell these students they’re doing really great things.”

Soboroff then asked Rudd how he felt about the election, prompting Rudd to laugh and say, wryly, “I feel good about handing out some waters!”

Soboroff left Rudd and continued to interview voters, stopping to talk to a first-time voter, a young Black woman, who said it wasn’t hard to make up her mind. “It’s been ready to go, out the gate,” she said. “I didn’t need to hear people talking in my ear.”

Rudd then appeared behind them. “Want a water from Paul Rudd?” Soboroff asked. “Yes, I do!” she exclaimed, and handed her phone to Soboroff so he could take a photo of the two of them.

Based on photos posted to X, Rudd also showed support for students waiting to vote at Villanova University, which is located less than an hour from Temple. During the 2020 election, Rudd made headlines for handing out cookies to people standing in the rain while waiting to vote in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Voters across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware are headed to the polls Tuesday to make their voices heard in the 2024 election for president and several key races in each state.

In the race to the White House, Pennsylvania remains a critical win as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris battle to secure the swing state’s 19 electoral votes.

Meanwhile, U.S. Senate contests in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey have been closely watched throughout the country as two Delaware races could make history.

Polls will close at 8 p.m. in each state as ballot counting kicks into full gear. However, Pennsylvania results are not expected on Election Night, since mail-in ballots couldn’t start being processed until 7 a.m.

If you need to find a polling location, or need more voting information, check out our guides for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

FOX 29 will be updating live results for these key races in each state:

Pennsylvania

President/ Vice President:

• Democrat: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz
• Republican: Donald Trump and J.D. Vance
• Green Party: Jill Stein and Butch Ware
• Libertarian Party: Chase Oliver and Michael ter Maat

U.S. Senate:

• Democrat: Bob Casey
• Republican: David McCormick
• Green Party: Leila Hazo
• Libertarian Party: John Thomas
• Constitution Party: Bernard Selker

Bob Casey and Dave McCormick are facing off in a high-stakes election that could help determine which party will control the narrowly divided Senate.

Attorney General:

• Democrat: Eugene Depasquale
• Republican: Dave Sunday
• Green Party: Richard L. Weiss
• Libertarian Party: Robert Cowburn
• Constitution Party: Justin L. Magill
• Forward Party: Eric L. Settle

Auditor General:

• Democrat: Malcolm Kenyatta
• Republican: Tim DeFoor
• Green Party: Richard L. Weiss
• Libertarian Party: Reece Smith
• Constitution Party: Alan Goodrich
• American Solidarity Party: Eric K. Anton

State Treasurer:

• Democrat: Erin McClelland
• Republican: Stacy Garrity
• Libertarian Party: Nickolas Ciesielski
• Constitution Party: Troy Bowman
• Forward Party: Chris Foster

U.S. House: Voters will elect 17 candidates from each of the state’s 17 U.S. House districts. 

Pennsylvania Senate: Voters will elect 25 candidates from each of the state’s 25 odd-numbered senatorial districts.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives: Voters will elect 203 candidates from each of the state’s 203 legislative districts. Candidates on your ballot will be dictated by the congressional district you live in.

New Jersey

President/ Vice President:

• Democrat: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz
• Republican: Donald Trump and J.D. Vance
• Independent: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nicole Shanahan
• Libertarian Party: Chase Oliver and Michael ter Maat
• Independent: Jill Stein and Butch Ware
• Independent: Claudia De La Cruz and Karina Garcia
• Independent: Rachele Fruit and Dennis Richter
• Independent: Joseph Kishore and Jerry White
• Independent: Randall Terry and Stephen Broden

U.S. Senate:

• Democrat: Andy Kim
• Republican: Curtis Bashaw
• Libertarian Party: Kenneth R. Kaplan
• Green Party: Christina Khalil
• Social Workers Party: Joanne Kuniansky
• Vote Better: Patricia G. Mooneyham

The Senate race in New Jersey has been highly watched as the winner will fill the seat of former Sen. Bob Menendez. A win by Bashaw would make him the first Republican elected to the U.S. Senate in New Jersey in more than 50 years.

U.S. House: Candidates on your ballot will be dictated by the county you live in.

Special Election: U.S. House of Representatives 10th Congressional District

Delaware

President/ Vice President:

• Democrat: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz
• Republican: Donald Trump and J.D. Vance
• Independent: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nicole Shanahan
• Libertarian Party: Chase Oliver and Michael ter Maat

U.S. Senate:

• Democrat: Lisa Blunt Rochester
• Republican: Eric Hansen
• Independent Party of Delaware: Michael “Dr. Mike” Katz

Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester would also make history if elected, becoming Delaware’s first Black female senator. 

U.S. House

• Democrat: Sarah McBride
• Republican: John J. Whalen III

Democrat Sarah McBride could become the first transgender member of congress with a victory against John Whalen III.

Delaware Senate: Voters will elect candidates from nine of the state’s senatorial districts.

Candidates on your ballot will be dictated by the senatorial district you live in.

Delaware House of Representatives: Voters will elect candidates from 40 of the state’s legislative districts. Candidates on your ballot will be dictated by the congressional district you live in.