Washington: The differences couldn’t have been starker. She’s the child of immigrants; he spews debunked conspiracies about cats and dogs. She wants to restore women’s reproductive rights; he’ll let the states further erode them. She’s a new generational leader; he’s been campaigning for nine tumultuous years.

But while millions of Americans decided long ago what they thought of Donald Trump, about half the country is clearly unwilling to turn the page on the incendiary Republican.

Votes were still being counted – including in the critical midwest battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan – but Kamala Harris’ path to victory was all but gone.

Donald Trump smiles at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Centre in the early hours of Wednesday.Credit: AP

By the time her campaign spokesman, Cedric Richmond, informed her watch party in Washington that she would not be speaking at the event, but would return the next morning when there was a clearer result, Trump had retained North Carolina for the third consecutive time, won back Georgia, and Republicans had also secured control of the Senate with crucial wins in Ohio, West Virginia and Nebraska.

In another big victory, Trump easily won Iowa, too – three days after Ann Seltzer, one of the most respected and........

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