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Posted in Behind the News

Calling the presidential race state by state

, by Lauren Easton

At 2:29 a.m. ET on Wednesday, The Associated Press called the race for Donald Trump in a Flash, reserved for news alerts of the highest importance.

AP has counted the vote on which many leading news organizations base their projections and declare winners since 1848.

In a staff note, Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll described AP’s election night vote count and other coverage:

"The race calls were a stone cold thing of beauty, culminating in the ultimate call that put AP ahead of all others when the margins were sometimes no bigger than an eyelash."

She continued:

"The live video shots, the endless parade of gorgeous photos, the sharp analysis and graceful prose and the calm on-air voices ... all combined to make for a fantastic election night."

The following is a chronology of AP’s presidential race calls (all times Eastern). At this time, Arizona, Michigan and New Hampshire are too close to call.

Nov. 8, 2016

18:59: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Indiana and Kentucky; Hillary Clinton wins Vermont.

19:30: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins West Virginia.

20:00: WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump wins Oklahoma; Clinton wins Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and the District of Columbia.

20:09: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins South Carolina.

20:13: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Tennessee.

20:26: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Alabama.

20:39: WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton wins Rhode Island.

20:51: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Mississippi.

20:58: WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton wins Illinois.

21:00: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming; Hillary Clinton wins New York.

21:00: WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump wins Nebraska and two of the state's three congressional districts, winning total of 4 electoral votes.

21:08: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Arkansas.

21:26: WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton wins Connecticut.

21:28: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Louisiana.

22:00: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Montana.

22:21: WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton wins New Mexico.

22:25: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Missouri.

22:36: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Ohio.

22:40: WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton wins Virginia.

22:43: WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton wins Colorado.

22:50: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Florida.

23:00: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Idaho; Hillary Clinton wins California, Hawaii.

23:05: WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton wins Oregon.

23:11: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins North Carolina.

23:28: WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton wins Washington state.

23:33: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Georgia.

23:52: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Utah.

Nov. 9, 2016

12:02: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Iowa.

12:20: WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton wins Nevada.

12:22: WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans clinch House majority, extending 6-year lock on chamber, while Dems' gains modest.

01:15: WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans retain control of the Senate with victory in Pennsylvania.

01:24: WASHINGTON (AP) — CORRECTS: Republicans will retain control of Senate after win in Pennsylvania if they hold Louisiana, Alaska as expected. (Corrects APNewsAlert.)

01:35: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Pennsylvania.

01:56: WASHINGTON (AP) — Clinton wins Maine and 1 congressional district, takes 3 electoral votes; Trump wins 1 district in state, gets 1 vote.

02:01: WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump wins Nebraska's final congressional district, sweeping the state's 5 electoral votes.

02:05: NEW YORK (AP) — Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta says her campaign will have nothing to say tonight about state of race.

02:29: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Wisconsin.

02:29: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump elected president of the United States. [Call based on AP’s determination that Trump had won Wisconsin, thereby exceeding the necessary 270 electoral votes. Separately, AP's Wisconsin wire reported at 02:31 that Trump had defeated Clinton, snapping the Democratic winning streak in the state.]

02:50: NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says Hillary Clinton congratulated him on his victory.

02:52: NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump says it's "time for us to come together," pledges to be president "for all Americans"

03:01: WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan calls Trump victory 'a repudiation of the status quo of failed liberal progressive policies'

03:07: WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Trump's win: 'The American people have chosen a new direction for our nation'

07:12: WASHINGTON (AP) — White House says Obama has congratulated Trump, invited him to meet at White House on Thursday.

11:09: WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton wins Minnesota.

11:19: WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan says Donald Trump "turned politics on its head," promises "hand-in-hand" work on GOP agenda.

11:22: WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan on Donald Trump's win: "He just earned a mandate."

11:43: NEW YORK (AP) — Clinton says she spoke to Trump, offered to work with him on behalf of the country.

11:44: NEW YORK (AP) — Clinton says nation "is more deeply divided than we thought," tells supporters they must accept outcome.

11:46: NEW YORK (AP) — Clinton says of Trump: "We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead."

11:58: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Alaska.

12:25: WASHINGTON (AP) — Obama pledges peaceful transition to Trump: 'We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country"