PHOTOS: Voters line up from East to West
Voters wait in line to cast their ballots outside a polling station on the Navajo Nation in Chinle, Ariz., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
Rain pours down while voters are waiting in line to cast their vote on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 at West Gray Multiservice Center in Houston. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP)
People line up to vote outside Allegiant Stadium, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People wait in line to vote outside a polling place on Election Day at MetraPark, Nov. 5, 2024, in Billings, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
Voters line up to cast their ballots at Miami-Dade County Fire Station in Miami on Nov. 5, 2024. (Jose Iglesias/Miami Herald via AP)
Voters line up to cast their ballots at John F Kennedy Library during Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Hialeah, Fla. (Jose Iglesias/Miami Herald via AP)
People line up to vote outside a polling station at Bethel Lutheran Church in Omaha, Neb., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
Tanisha Jacobis, right, stands in line with her son Farris Jones, left, to cast their ballots at the P.S. 175 Henry Highland Garnet school on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Voters wait in line to receive their ballots at Life Stream Church in Ottawa County, Mich. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Joel Bissell /Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
Voters wait in line for the polls to open on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at a polling site in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Voters line up to enter their polling place at the Cincinnati Observatory on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at Scranton High School in Scranton, Pa., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at Scranton High School in Scranton, Pa., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Liza Fortt, 74, center, waits in line to cast her ballot for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at her polling place at Scranton High School in Scranton, Pa., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Voters line up to cast their ballots at The Church at Brook Hills on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Birmingham, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Voters stand in line outside a polling place at Madison Church, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Voters stand in line to vote at a polling place inside Park Tavern, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
People line up to vote outside Allegiant Stadium, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People wait in line to vote at the Downtown Reno Library, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Reno, Nev. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)
People wait in line to vote on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Voters stand in line outside a polling place at Madison Church, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Voters head to polls on Nov. 5 to decide between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. The balance of power in Congress all hangs in the balance.
Republicans seized control of the U.S. Senate late Tuesday after flipping Democratic held seats, holding onto GOP incumbents and wresting away the majority for the first time in four years.
Donald Trump was elected as the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, defeating Kamala Harris to secure his return to the White House.
The victories come in an election year defined in part by historic firsts.
Trump benefited from narrow gains among both men and women, with Harris modestly underperforming compared with Biden in 2020.
A record 13 women will serve as governor next year after the election of New Hampshire Republican Kelly Ayotte, breaking the record set in 2023.