Vice President Kamala Harris won the Illinois nomination for U.S. president, beating Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump and Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The result was called by AP at 7:38 p.m.
This gives Harris 19 electoral votes, taking her to 99 at the moment of this story’s publishing. She will need 171 more electoral votes to win the national election.
So far, Harris has won Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
The result comes as little surprise, as polling projections considered Illinois to be a solid blue state. The last time Illinois supported a Republican over a Democratic candidate for the presidential election was 1988 when the voters elected George H.W. Bush over Michael Dukakis.
Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee on Aug. 5, 15 days after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her.
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Biden won the Illinois Democratic primary election in March but stepped down after facing immense pressure following a poor debate performance with Trump on June 27. Since formally becoming the Democratic nominee on Aug. 5, Harris has surged in popularity, raising over $1 billion.
