NEW YORK _ Jubilation at Donald Trump's New York election-night party built gradually Tuesday as he racked up battleground-state victories, each of them announced by Fox News anchors on huge television monitors bracketing a hotel ballroom stage.
Ohio drew the first big burst of cheers, but it was not entirely a surprise after weeks of polls showing Trump running ahead of Hillary Clinton there.
"That puts us on a path for a really, really good night," said Sarah Huckabee, a senior Trump adviser watching the returns near the open bar in the party's VIP section. "It's going to be a long night, but I think we're in for a good night for Donald Trump."
The next win, North Carolina, sparked louder applause. It was a more hard-fought contest. Clinton staged a midnight rally in Raleigh on the eve of the election, and President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama both made repeated visits in what turned out to be a vain effort to inspire the state's black voters.
Florida soon followed, and the mood suddenly turned giddy, with a constant din as Trump's supporters, many of them wearing red Make America Great Again caps, marveled at the possibility that he could really pull it off.
But it was Fox's call of Trump's win in Wisconsin, where Clinton was heavily favored, that really sent the room into a frenzy. People screamed, waved their red caps in the air and leaped into one another's arms. One woman lost her high heel. Another called out: "If he won this, my husband works in the White House."
"Look at this excitement," said Sasha Epshteyn, 50, a Russian immigrant wearing one of the red caps. "People laughing, people cheering, people kissing each other."
No network had called the election for Trump, but Epshteyn, a New Jersey telecommunications manager, said he was "150 percent sure" Trump had captured the White House.
Laura Loomer said she was "jumping up with joy" at Trump's victories in Florida, Ohio and North Carolina.
"Now I feel redeemed," said Loomer, 23, a multiplatform journalist wearing a "Hillary for Prison" T-shirt and Make America Great Again cap.
"He's politically incorrect. He's totally anti-establishment. He's going to go to Washington and take a sledge hammer to everything, take a sledge hammer to the media," said Loomer, who is from Westchester County, N.Y.
