Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is projected to win the state of Michigan, leaving him just 17 Electoral College votes short of being elected to the White House, NBC News reported Wednesday.
Biden, the former vice president, now is projected to win two states that were won by his opponent, incumbent President Donald Trump, in the 2016 election. The other state is Wisconsin.
Michigan has 16 Electoral College votes.
Trump beat then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in Michigan by just 0.2% in 2016 — the closest popular vote margin of any state that election.
Biden’s projected victory in the state gives him 253 Electoral College votes, according to the current tally by NBC News. He needs 270 electoral votes to win.
The states whose popular vote tallies remain to be called are Arizona, where 11 Electoral College votes are at stake, Georgia, which has 16 electoral votes, Pennsylvania, with 20 electoral votes, Nevada, which has six such votes, and North Carolina, which has 15 electoral votes.
Biden currently has slim leads in the popular votes of Nevada and Arizona.
Trump’s campaign filed suit earlier Wednesday seeking to halt the counting of ballots in Michigan as it demanded better access for observers watching the vote tallying at locations in the state.
Michigan voted for Republican presidential candidates from 1972 to 1988 before flipping to Democratic winners from 1992 to 2012.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden delivers remarks about health care at Beech Woods Recreation Center October 16, 2020 in Southfield,m Michigan.
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