Why AP called Michigan for Trump: Race call explained

WASHINGTON — The Associated Press declared former President Donald Trump the winner of Michigan’s Republican primary, based on an analysis of early voting results from a cross-section of the state. With the victory, Trump is now a perfect five-to-five in presidential contests in which he appeared on the ballot.

The AP declared Trump the winner at 9 p.m. ET as polls closed in the final four counties in the westernmost part of the state’s Upper Peninsula. At that point, Trump had 65% of the statewide vote, more than double the 31% received by his closest competitor, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

By the time the polls closed, nearly 134,000 votes had been collected from 20 counties across the state. The votes came from all major geographic regions of the state, with the largest share coming from Oakland and Macomb counties in Detroit’s northern suburbs, and from southeastern Michigan.

Trump built an early lead when the first results came in from Oakland around 8:08 p.m. and had won every subsequent voting update by the time the last polls closed at 9 p.m.

At the time he was declared the winner, the former president was far ahead in every geographic region — and by nearly three to one in more conservative northern Michigan.

In the state’s last competitive Republican primary, Trump won 72 of Michigan’s 83 counties on his way to a 12 percentage point victory. He saw his worst performance along the state’s western border, losing to Sen. Ted Cruz in Kent County — home to Grand Rapids, historically the Republican stronghold on the state’s west side — and surrounding counties. But at the time the race was called Tuesday, Trump was slightly ahead in Kent.

Tonight’s primary also marked the first major statewide race since Michigan expanded early voting and allowed early mapping of absentee ballots last year. About 1 million voters cast ballots in the Democratic or Republican primaries before Election Day.