Hillary Clinton lost the election but is winning the popular vote
Story highlights
- Hillary Clinton may still end up with more votes than Donald Trump
- Clinton could become the first candidate since Al Gore to win the popular vote but lose the election
(CNN)Donald Trump may have scored an astonishing upset presidential victory, but Hillary Clinton could still receive more votes.
As of Wednesday evening, hours after Clinton called Trump to concede, the former secretary of state clung to a narrow lead in the popular vote, 47.7%-47.5%.
She
had 59,755,284 votes, according to CNN's tally, with 92% of the
expected vote counted. Trump had 59,535,522. That difference of 219,762
is razor-thin considering the nearly 120 million votes counted so far.
The totals will continue to change as absentee votes trickle in.
It's a fascinating turn of events for Trump, who four years ago tweeted, "The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy," following Mitt Romney's loss in 2012.
If
Clinton hangs on, she would become the first presidential candidate
since Al Gore in 2000 to win the popular vote but lose the election.
Trump, who clinched the nomination by securing 270 Electoral College
votes, currently leads Clinton 290-228, though Michigan and New
Hampshire have yet to be called.
Prior
to Gore's defeat to George W. Bush in 2000, three other candidates --
Andrew Jackson, Samuel Tilden and Grover Cleveland, all in the 19th
century -- had won the popular vote and lost the election.
Entering
Tuesday, with most polls showing Clinton with marginal but steady
leads, Trump's chances of victory were seen as remote. The Electoral
College map was considered favorable to Clinton, who was said to have
several paths to the winning threshold of 270 electoral votes.
But
Trump obliterated Clinton's firewall, picking off unexpected wins in
Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, as well as sweeping swing states like North
Carolina, Florida and Ohio.
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