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| Glass ceiling watch: will America elect its first woman president? | Glass ceiling watch: will America elect its first woman president? |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 4.17am GMT | |
| 04:17 | |
| Kamala Harris has been named the winner of the Senate race in California. She will be the fourth woman of color to serve in the US Senate, joining Illinois’ Tammy Duckworth, who won her race earlier tonight. | |
| Until tonight, only two women of color had ever been elected to the US Senate: Carol Moseley Braun, from Illinois, and Mazie Hirono, who still serves the state of Hawaii as Senator today. | |
| 4.05am GMT | |
| 04:05 | |
| Arwa Mahdawi | |
| ‘I want to ask Nate Silver why his methodology is so flawed’ | |
| I started the evening at an election watch party where the mood was jubilant; people were celebrating; Clinton was definitely going to win. A couple of hours later, things have swung steadily in Trump’s direction. I’m at a different watch party, at the Wing, an upscale women’s member club in Manhattan; it’s starting to feel less like a party and more like group therapy. Many of the well dressed women here seem to be in the process of biting their nails off. | |
| “I don’t think I can eat or drink anything,” says one woman, flustered, standing in front of a slick bar covered in pizza slices and bottles of wine. “I’m too nervous.” | |
| “I want to ask Nate Silver, whose website I’ve been checking religiously, why his methodology is so flawed,” Audrey Gelman, co-founder of The Wing tells me. There’s a collective sense of incredulity, almost anger, that the polls were so wrong. | |
| Gelman says she’s “frightened” by the prospect of a Trump presidency, particularly considering the disturbing “levels of vitriol and misogyny in this campaign.” Still, she says, she’s comforted by the fact that she’s in this space, “surrounded by hundreds of women.” | |
| If Hillary loses will it set women’s rights back? I ask Lauren Kassan, co-founder of the Wing. Kassan doesn’t think so; “women are going to come together more than ever and it’s why [women-only] spaces like this are even more important.” | |
| The Virginia call comes in and, shortly after, it’s announced that Clinton is still projected to win. A big cheer goes up. You can practically feel the tension break. The volume in the room goes up. People start eating the pizza again. No one is getting too comfortable though. It’s very clear that if tonight ends in a victory for Hillary it’s going to have been a lot closer than anyone predicted. | |
| Updated | |
| at 4.06am GMT | |
| 3.57am GMT | |
| 03:57 | |
| Results update: Ohio and Florida called for Trump. Colorado and Virginia called for Clinton. Follow the rest of the results on our politics live blog. | |
| 3.42am GMT | 3.42am GMT |
| 03:42 | 03:42 |
| Anxiety builds inside the Javits Center: | Anxiety builds inside the Javits Center: |
| In the women's restroom at the Javits Center complete strangers are asking each other how they're holding up | In the women's restroom at the Javits Center complete strangers are asking each other how they're holding up |
| 3.34am GMT | 3.34am GMT |
| 03:34 | 03:34 |
| Results update: At this stage in the evening, our politics team is reporting that Clinton needs at least Michigan or Wisconsin to make it through, and she quite likely needs both. They’re counting hard now in the upper Midwest. | Results update: At this stage in the evening, our politics team is reporting that Clinton needs at least Michigan or Wisconsin to make it through, and she quite likely needs both. They’re counting hard now in the upper Midwest. |
| Obama won Michigan by 9.5% in 2012. He won Wisconsin by 6.7%. No such margins for Clinton tonight. | Obama won Michigan by 9.5% in 2012. He won Wisconsin by 6.7%. No such margins for Clinton tonight. |
| 3.25am GMT | 3.25am GMT |
| 03:25 | 03:25 |
| Here’s how hard it is to become president when you’re a (fictional) woman | Here’s how hard it is to become president when you’re a (fictional) woman |
| Turns out it’s pretty unusual for a woman to be president of the United States in the fictional world, too. There are only a handful of examples, and most of them involve exceptional circumstances. | Turns out it’s pretty unusual for a woman to be president of the United States in the fictional world, too. There are only a handful of examples, and most of them involve exceptional circumstances. |
| The most common reason in fiction a woman becomes president? The men have died. Here are a few standouts: | The most common reason in fiction a woman becomes president? The men have died. Here are a few standouts: |
| Mars Attacks! | Mars Attacks! |
| When this 1996 space invasion movie opens, Taffy, played by a 14-year-old Natalie Portman, is the president’s teenage daughter. Then, Mars attacks. By the time Earth defeats the aliens, the entire federal government is dead, and Taffy appears to be the president. Which, sure. That’s totally how that works. | When this 1996 space invasion movie opens, Taffy, played by a 14-year-old Natalie Portman, is the president’s teenage daughter. Then, Mars attacks. By the time Earth defeats the aliens, the entire federal government is dead, and Taffy appears to be the president. Which, sure. That’s totally how that works. |
| Commander in Chief | Commander in Chief |
| In this short-lived ABC series, America got its first female president when the sitting president, a dude, died of an aneurysm. Geena Davis played Vice President-turned-President Mackenzie Allen. | In this short-lived ABC series, America got its first female president when the sitting president, a dude, died of an aneurysm. Geena Davis played Vice President-turned-President Mackenzie Allen. |
| Battlestar Galactica | Battlestar Galactica |
| On a planet that looks a lot like Earth, in a country that seems a lot like the United States, Education Secretary Laura Roslin becomes president after an artificially intelligent species from outer space launches a surprise attack on humanity. (OK, so our worlds are slightly different.) | On a planet that looks a lot like Earth, in a country that seems a lot like the United States, Education Secretary Laura Roslin becomes president after an artificially intelligent species from outer space launches a surprise attack on humanity. (OK, so our worlds are slightly different.) |
| The attack kills off all but a few hundred humans, and Roslin, one of the few survivors from civilian government, becomes our first female space president. | The attack kills off all but a few hundred humans, and Roslin, one of the few survivors from civilian government, becomes our first female space president. |
| Y: The Last Man | Y: The Last Man |
| Sometimes, every man on the planet has to die before a woman can become the president of the United States. You know how it is. | Sometimes, every man on the planet has to die before a woman can become the president of the United States. You know how it is. |
| In this dystopian comic series by Brian K. Vaughan, Agriculture Secretary Margaret Valentine becomes the president after a mysterious force kills off almost every human with a Y-chromosome. The scourge places Valentine next in line for succession. Later in the series, Valentine wins reelection because Oprah wasn’t available. (Really.) | In this dystopian comic series by Brian K. Vaughan, Agriculture Secretary Margaret Valentine becomes the president after a mysterious force kills off almost every human with a Y-chromosome. The scourge places Valentine next in line for succession. Later in the series, Valentine wins reelection because Oprah wasn’t available. (Really.) |
| Honorable mention: Air Force One | Honorable mention: Air Force One |
| When Russian terrorists seize control the president’s plane and hold his family hostage, you would expect the vice president to take the wheel. Just for a few hours, so Harrison Ford has the space he needs to body-slam those terrorists off his plane. | When Russian terrorists seize control the president’s plane and hold his family hostage, you would expect the vice president to take the wheel. Just for a few hours, so Harrison Ford has the space he needs to body-slam those terrorists off his plane. |
| But in Air Force One, when members of the government urge Vice President Glenn Close to declare the president – WHO IS A HOSTAGE – unable to perform his duties, she refuses. | But in Air Force One, when members of the government urge Vice President Glenn Close to declare the president – WHO IS A HOSTAGE – unable to perform his duties, she refuses. |
| C’mon girl. | C’mon girl. |
| 2.55am GMT | 2.55am GMT |
| 02:55 | 02:55 |
| Meanwhile, at the Javits center... | Meanwhile, at the Javits center... |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.56am GMT | at 2.56am GMT |
| 2.41am GMT | 2.41am GMT |
| 02:41 | 02:41 |
| Razor-thin margins | Razor-thin margins |
| More results: Trump has won the state of Texas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota and Louisiana. Clinton won Connecticut. Check our live results page here. | More results: Trump has won the state of Texas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota and Louisiana. Clinton won Connecticut. Check our live results page here. |
| 2.33am GMT | 2.33am GMT |
| 02:33 | 02:33 |
| Is this the first Muslim refugee to hold elected office in the US? | Is this the first Muslim refugee to hold elected office in the US? |
| Amanda Holpuch | Amanda Holpuch |
| Ilhan Omar is projected to be the first Somali-American Muslim women to win public office in America. She has been elected a state representative in Minnesota. | Ilhan Omar is projected to be the first Somali-American Muslim women to win public office in America. She has been elected a state representative in Minnesota. |
| Omar, who spent four years in a Kenyan refugee camp after fleeing Somalia as child, is also believed to be the first Muslim refugee to hold elected office in the US and the first Somali-American state legislator. | Omar, who spent four years in a Kenyan refugee camp after fleeing Somalia as child, is also believed to be the first Muslim refugee to hold elected office in the US and the first Somali-American state legislator. |
| Omar told the Guardian in February how being a Muslim woman in office could change how people see the political process: | Omar told the Guardian in February how being a Muslim woman in office could change how people see the political process: |
| For me, this is my country, this is for my future, for my children’s future and for my grandchildren’s future to make our democracy more vibrant, more inclusive, more accessible and transparent which is going to be useful for all of us. | For me, this is my country, this is for my future, for my children’s future and for my grandchildren’s future to make our democracy more vibrant, more inclusive, more accessible and transparent which is going to be useful for all of us. |
| I think we now need to make sure we are ushering in new leaders who are women, who speak to a broader community, and who are intersectional feminists who will empower and engage and pave the way for young women like my daughters. | I think we now need to make sure we are ushering in new leaders who are women, who speak to a broader community, and who are intersectional feminists who will empower and engage and pave the way for young women like my daughters. |
| Read a Guardian profile of Omar from earlier this year: | Read a Guardian profile of Omar from earlier this year: |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.33am GMT | at 2.33am GMT |
| 2.25am GMT | 2.25am GMT |
| 02:25 | 02:25 |
| Arwa Mahdawi | Arwa Mahdawi |
| ‘I’ve been feeling anxious for a year. All of us have.’ | ‘I’ve been feeling anxious for a year. All of us have.’ |
| I’m at an election watch party in New York’s meatpacking district, jointly hosted by a number of women’s reproductive rights organizations including Planned Parenthood, National Institute for Reproductive Health Action Fund, and Shout Your Abortion NYC. | I’m at an election watch party in New York’s meatpacking district, jointly hosted by a number of women’s reproductive rights organizations including Planned Parenthood, National Institute for Reproductive Health Action Fund, and Shout Your Abortion NYC. |
| With “the Supreme Court nomination and Trump promising to overturn Roe v Wade” there’s a lot at stake for women’s reproductive rights in this election, Alex, a development associate with Planned Parenthood, tells me. Everyone’s feeling nervous. “I’ve been feeling anxious for a year,” Amanda, an activist, says. “I think all of us have.” | With “the Supreme Court nomination and Trump promising to overturn Roe v Wade” there’s a lot at stake for women’s reproductive rights in this election, Alex, a development associate with Planned Parenthood, tells me. Everyone’s feeling nervous. “I’ve been feeling anxious for a year,” Amanda, an activist, says. “I think all of us have.” |
| Despite the frayed nerves, the mood amongst the 200 or so attendees, 80% of whom are millennial women, is upbeat. It’s relatively early in the night; the results are nail-bitingly close but people are cautiously confident. A lot of people have come dressed for the occasion in The Future is Female or Nasty Women T-Shirts. There are a lot of Hillary badges, of course, and a few people have donned pantsuits. | Despite the frayed nerves, the mood amongst the 200 or so attendees, 80% of whom are millennial women, is upbeat. It’s relatively early in the night; the results are nail-bitingly close but people are cautiously confident. A lot of people have come dressed for the occasion in The Future is Female or Nasty Women T-Shirts. There are a lot of Hillary badges, of course, and a few people have donned pantsuits. |
| There’s an immense amount of respect for Clinton in this room. A feeling that she spoke out for women when it wasn’t popular to do so. That she’s spent her whole life working for women. “The important thing is the conversation now is about every woman, no matter your sexuality or race,” Samantha, a 20-something New Yorker tells me. Like many people at this party, Samantha has been doing all she can to get Clinton elected, volunteering for the campaign since the primaries. She’s been canvassing but also doing more unconventional campaigning; last night she was part of a pantsuit dance in Washington Square. | There’s an immense amount of respect for Clinton in this room. A feeling that she spoke out for women when it wasn’t popular to do so. That she’s spent her whole life working for women. “The important thing is the conversation now is about every woman, no matter your sexuality or race,” Samantha, a 20-something New Yorker tells me. Like many people at this party, Samantha has been doing all she can to get Clinton elected, volunteering for the campaign since the primaries. She’s been canvassing but also doing more unconventional campaigning; last night she was part of a pantsuit dance in Washington Square. |
| Whatever happens tonight, there’s a palpable feeling that history is being made in these very minutes. As Samantha told me: “In the words of [hit Broadway musical] Hamilton, history is happening in Manhattan. We just happen to be in the greatest city in the world.” | Whatever happens tonight, there’s a palpable feeling that history is being made in these very minutes. As Samantha told me: “In the words of [hit Broadway musical] Hamilton, history is happening in Manhattan. We just happen to be in the greatest city in the world.” |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.25am GMT | at 2.25am GMT |
| 2.09am GMT | 2.09am GMT |
| 02:09 | 02:09 |
| Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Democrat, is projected to win her House race in Delaware’s at-large district, making her the first woman and first person of color to represent the state in the US Congress. | Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Democrat, is projected to win her House race in Delaware’s at-large district, making her the first woman and first person of color to represent the state in the US Congress. |
| Before Rochester’s election, Delaware was one of only three states that had never elected a woman to the House or the Senate. | Before Rochester’s election, Delaware was one of only three states that had never elected a woman to the House or the Senate. |
| 2.07am GMT | 2.07am GMT |
| 02:07 | 02:07 |
| Tammy Duckworth is projected as the winner of Illinois’ hard-fought Senate race. Duckworth, a Democrat, beat out incumbent Mark Kirk in a contest that is crucial to the control of the upper chamber. | Tammy Duckworth is projected as the winner of Illinois’ hard-fought Senate race. Duckworth, a Democrat, beat out incumbent Mark Kirk in a contest that is crucial to the control of the upper chamber. |
| Duckworth’s election makes her the third woman of color to be elected to the US Senate. She is a decorated veteran of the Iraq War, having lost both legs when a helicopter she was piloting was shot down. The first woman veteran to serve in the Senate, Republican Joni Ernst, was elected just two years ago. | Duckworth’s election makes her the third woman of color to be elected to the US Senate. She is a decorated veteran of the Iraq War, having lost both legs when a helicopter she was piloting was shot down. The first woman veteran to serve in the Senate, Republican Joni Ernst, was elected just two years ago. |
| Read the Guardian profile of Duckworth from earlier this year: | Read the Guardian profile of Duckworth from earlier this year: |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.20am GMT | at 2.20am GMT |
| 1.51am GMT | 1.51am GMT |
| 01:51 | 01:51 |
| Hillary Clinton thanks 'Pantsuit Nation' | Hillary Clinton thanks 'Pantsuit Nation' |
| You might have heard of Pantsuit Nation, the upbeat, invitation-only Facebook group of Hillary Clinton supporters. The group was created to “celebrate the historic possibility of the first female president”, according to the New York Times. | You might have heard of Pantsuit Nation, the upbeat, invitation-only Facebook group of Hillary Clinton supporters. The group was created to “celebrate the historic possibility of the first female president”, according to the New York Times. |
| Apparently, Clinton has too. She sent a note to the group, thanking them for their support on election day. | Apparently, Clinton has too. She sent a note to the group, thanking them for their support on election day. |
| “I’m honored and humbled to have all of you with me, but I’m even prouder to see this community represent the best of America: people of all backgrounds and beliefs who share a vision for a brighter future for our children, and who have each other’s backs. That’s who we really are, and tonight, we’re going to prove it,” Clinton wrote. | “I’m honored and humbled to have all of you with me, but I’m even prouder to see this community represent the best of America: people of all backgrounds and beliefs who share a vision for a brighter future for our children, and who have each other’s backs. That’s who we really are, and tonight, we’re going to prove it,” Clinton wrote. |
| Hillary Clinton left this note in the Pantsuit Nation FB group and now I'll truly never stop crying ✊ ❤️ pic.twitter.com/bP5EK0zd9f | Hillary Clinton left this note in the Pantsuit Nation FB group and now I'll truly never stop crying ✊ ❤️ pic.twitter.com/bP5EK0zd9f |
| 1.41am GMT | 1.41am GMT |
| 01:41 | 01:41 |
| Guardian writer Megan Carpentier is reporting from Wellesley, Hillary clinton’s alma mater. This is her favorite T-shirt so far. | Guardian writer Megan Carpentier is reporting from Wellesley, Hillary clinton’s alma mater. This is her favorite T-shirt so far. |
| Favorite Nasty Woman t-shirt so far today. (It was a surprise from her boyfriend, so designer unknown). pic.twitter.com/IDzbphEkuh | Favorite Nasty Woman t-shirt so far today. (It was a surprise from her boyfriend, so designer unknown). pic.twitter.com/IDzbphEkuh |
| 1.36am GMT | 1.36am GMT |
| 01:36 | 01:36 |
| Rose Hackman | Rose Hackman |
| ‘Do you think Oprah Winfrey could run for president? I don’t think so’ | ‘Do you think Oprah Winfrey could run for president? I don’t think so’ |
| The run up to the presidential elections has sometimes felt so acrimonious, and indeed existentially worrying. But for many women of Hillary Clinton’s generation and older, the momentous and historic nature of this election is impossible to deny. | The run up to the presidential elections has sometimes felt so acrimonious, and indeed existentially worrying. But for many women of Hillary Clinton’s generation and older, the momentous and historic nature of this election is impossible to deny. |
| The Guardian spoke to three older women to get their brief insight into what possibly placing a woman as president in the White House feels like to them, the kinds of struggles they have faced and overcome, and the battles they feel have yet to be won. | The Guardian spoke to three older women to get their brief insight into what possibly placing a woman as president in the White House feels like to them, the kinds of struggles they have faced and overcome, and the battles they feel have yet to be won. |
| Thelma Baxter, whose father was white and whose mother was black and Native American, says she faced discrimination as a woman of color. She is proud to vote for Hillary Clinton in this election while noting that for women of color, more challenges remain. | Thelma Baxter, whose father was white and whose mother was black and Native American, says she faced discrimination as a woman of color. She is proud to vote for Hillary Clinton in this election while noting that for women of color, more challenges remain. |
| “If you are a woman, you have to be better qualified. Do you think Oprah Winfrey could run for president? I don’t think so.” | “If you are a woman, you have to be better qualified. Do you think Oprah Winfrey could run for president? I don’t think so.” |
| 1.31am GMT | 1.31am GMT |
| 01:31 | 01:31 |
| The results are trickling in. | The results are trickling in. |
| Florida is looking very vulnerable for Trump. Trump won Tennessee. Trump is projected to win South Carolina. Clinton won Maryland, Vermont, Massachusetts. | Florida is looking very vulnerable for Trump. Trump won Tennessee. Trump is projected to win South Carolina. Clinton won Maryland, Vermont, Massachusetts. |
| You can explore the live results in our interactive. | You can explore the live results in our interactive. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 1.33am GMT | at 1.33am GMT |