Republican Donald Trump looks set to beat Democrat Kamala Harris in the state of North Carolina in Tuesday's US presidential election, Edison Research forecasts, putting him one step closer to the White House.
The outcome remains uncertain in six other key states expected to determine the winner.
So far based on results at 7am Cyprus time, Trump has 230 Electoral College votes to Harris' 210.
A candidate needs a total of at least 270 votes in the Electoral College to claim the presidency.
Decision Desk HQ predicted that Trump would also win in Georgia.
Republicans also won a majority in the US Senate after overturning Democratic seats in West Virginia and Ohio. Neither party appeared to have a lead in the race for control of the House of Representatives, where Republicans currently hold a narrow majority.
Trump won more support from Hispanic, traditionally Democratic voters, and from lower-income households that have felt price increases sharply since the last presidential election in 2020, according to exit polls from Edison.
Trump won 45% of Hispanic voters nationally, trailing Harris with 53%, but up 13 percentage points from 2020.
Voters whose main issue was the economy overwhelmingly voted for Trump, especially if they felt they were in a worse economic position than they were four years ago.
About 31 percent of voters said the economy was their top issue, and they voted for Trump by a margin of 79 percent to 20 percent, according to exit polls. About 45% of voters across the country said their family's financial situation was worse today than it was four years ago.
Trump was winning a larger share of the vote than he did four years ago in nearly every corner of the country, from suburban Georgia to rural Pennsylvania.
In Florida, a referendum vote to guarantee abortion rights failed to reach the 60% threshold needed to pass.
