Donald Trump wins as Hillary Clinton loses more ‘faithless’ electors
Donald Trump’s win over Hillary Clinton became official yesterday, pending certain certification by the Congress in January, as the elector backlash appeared to be more damaging to the Clinton vote count than the Trump total.
Confirmed by the Seattle Times, one-third of the electors from Washington State didn’t vote for Clinton: ” three voted instead for former Secretary of State Colin Powell, while one voted for Faith Spotted Eagle, a Native American elder and activist from South Dakota.”
It was the first time in four decades that any of Washington’s Electoral College voters have broken from the state’s popular vote for president.
There were 8 total electors attempting to defect from Clinton, one successful in Hawaii (voting for Bernie Sanders) and two for Trump (Texas: John Kasich and Ron Paul received those votes.) State officials in Colorado, Minnesota and Maine stopped electors from changing their votes away from Clinton.
photo/ donkeyhotey
Trump finished with 304 votes and Clinton had 227.
No big surprise, Trump turned to Twitter for a comment: We did it! Thank you to all of my great supporters, we just officially won the election (despite all of the distorted and inaccurate media).
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2016
Republican National Committee Co-Chair Sharon Day urged Trump’s detractors to stop fighting his election, now that his victory is affirmed.
“This historic election is now officially over and I look forward to President-elect Trump taking the oath of office in January,” she said in a statement. “For the good of the country, Democrats must stop their cynical attempts to undermine the legitimacy of this election, which Donald Trump won decisively in the Electoral College with more votes than any Republican since 1988.”
“The hubbub around a longshot possibility that rebellious ‘Hamilton electors’ might deny Trump the White House turned what has normally been a little-attended ceremony into a closely watched event. The movement was based on Founding Father Alexander Hamilton’s view that the Electoral College should be a backstop against presidents who are unqualified or unduly influenced by foreign powers,” the Times noted.
photo/ donkeyhotey
