On Nov. 5, Donald Trump won the presidential election by over 80 electoral votes against his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. This marks the first time that a Republican candidate has won the popular vote in 20 years, despite predictions this would be an extremely close election. This has left many wondering how Trump was able to win this election, and why the results were so different from those of 2020.
Of the seven major swing states, all but North Carolina’s electoral votes were cast for President Joe Biden in 2020; however, all seven went to Trump in this election. While both candidates heavily focused on these states in their campaign, Harris was able to sweep the votes in more urban and densely populated areas, whereas Trump won nearly every rural and suburban area, especially in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina. Even the cities that Harris won had a higher percentage of Republican votes than in 2020.
Trump’s outreach to first time voters and other key demographics also led to Trump’s success in this election. A CNN exit poll shows that, while in 2020 over 30 percent more first time voters voted for Biden over Trump, this year Trump won new voters by 10 percent.
One major issue up for debate in this election was abortion rights. With the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June of 2022, both candidates found the issue to be at the center of their campaigns. Harris stated that, if elected, she would work to protect abortion rights and end the stall over making the decision in the senate, whereas Trump plans to leave the decision up to the states.
However, abortion turned out not to be a deciding factor for many voters. The Trump campaign, on the other hand, was centered on using the mistakes and shortcomings of Biden’s administration to his advantage. According to a survey done by the Associated Press, while roughly a quarter of voters said abortion played a role in their vote, nearly half said the single most important issue to them was the economy, as many blame Biden for the highest inflation in nearly 40 years.
“I feel like this election has shown us the true intentions and priorities of the politicians in power, and that scares me,” Lena VanderMeer ’27 says.
