When to expect the election to be called, losing candidate to concede

GTY KERRY CONCEDES ELECTION TO BUSH A POL USA MA

Tuesday is the day that American voters will decide who'll be their next president - Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Polls already open in states across the Eastern U.S. are seeing lines of voters form as people prepare to cast their ballots.

got up two hours later. He and his political advisers still thought there was a good chance Kerry would fight the results in court. But at 11:02 a.m. on Wednesday Nov. 3, 2004, Kerry called Bush to concede when updated voting numbers in Ohio made it clear it was almost impossible for him to win the state, and therefore the election.

According to CNN, Kerry was a little more than an hour late for his scheduled 1 p.m. concession speech in Fanueil Hall in Boston. But the 2004 presidential bid ended around 2 p.m. with Kerry’s calls for a unified nation: “In an American election there are no losers because whether or not our candidates are successful, the next morning we all wake up as Americans.”

2008: McCain concedes to Obama

John McCain, on stage with his wife Cindy McCain, concedes victory to Barack Obama on Nov. 4, 2008, in Phoenix.

According USA TODAY’s coverage of the 2008 election, a win in California put Democrat Barack Obama over the top, giving him 55 electoral votes — enough to surpass the 270 needed to defeat Republican John McCain and claim the presidency. The former Illinois senator won key state after key state on Nov. 4, 2008, with victories in the battlegrounds of Ohio, Virginia, Florida and Pennsylvania being harbingers of the outcome.

At 11:03 p.m. CBS News estimated that Obama would be the next president of the United States, making history as the first black man to hold this office. They made the call before several key states were decided. But at 11:10 p.m., CBS estimated that Obama would win both Florida and Virginia, putting him at 323 in the Electoral College and counting with Colorado, Missouri and Indiana still out as big states.

McCain delivered his heartfelt concession speech shortly after 11:20 p.m., according to the CBS live blog. "It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment," McCain said at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, flanked by running mate Sarah Palin, his wife, Cindy, and other family members. "But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again." McCain appealed to all Americans to help Obama "find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences."

2012: Romney concedes to Obama

At 11:38 p.m. on Nov. 6, 2012, the Associated Press officially called Obama’s victoryover Mitt Romney, based on the determination that he had won Colorado, thereby exceeding the necessary 270 electoral votes. According to AP’s timeline, Obama went on to win Wisconsin, Nevada and Virginia before Romney called him to concede at 12:49 a.m. the next day.

Just before 1 a.m., Romney delivered his concession speech to supporters in Boston. “I so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction,” he said.

Around 1:40 a.m., Obama delivered his victory speech at a convention center in South Chicago. "Tonight in this election, you the American people reminded us that while our road has been hard, our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up," Obama told jubilant supporters. "For the United States of America, the best is yet to come."