Washington: Hillary Clinton defeated her Republican rival Donald Trump in a hard-fought contest in battleground Virginia, US television networks reported on Tuesday.

Virginia has 13 electoral college votes and while the state's south leans Republican, its heavily-populated north — which neighbors the capital Washington — is staunchly Democratic, and helped put Clinton over the top.

At 8:55pm EST, Clinton acknowledged a battle that was unexpectedly tight given her edge in opinion polls going into Election Day.

She tweeted: ‘This team has so much to be proud of. Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything.’

With 95 per cent of the vote counted in Florida, Trump led Clinton by about 130,000 votes out of 9 million cast. In North Carolina, Trump led by about 100,00 votes out of 3.9 million cast.

As of 10:35 p.m. EST, Trump had 167 electoral votes to Clinton’s 131, with US television networks projecting the winner in 31 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Before Tuesday's election, Clinton led Trump, 44 per cent to 39 per cent in the last Reuters/Ipsos national tracking poll. A Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation poll gave her a 90 per cent chance of defeating Trump and becoming the first woman elected US president.