On Tuesday, November 5th, the 2024 Election concluded with Donald Trump winning the race. The former President won when he reached 270 electoral votes before Vice President Kamala Harris, his opponent. When all the votes were counted, Trump had 312 electoral votes in total, while Harris had 226.
An important factor in the difference of electoral votes is the states that were won between each candidate. A large reason for Trump’s victory was his ability to win crucial swing states, which are states where both parties have a similar amount of voter support and can be crucial in winning an election. In this election, Trump won states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. The victories in these states helped push him to 270 electoral votes, which is the amount needed to be considered the winning candidate.
Harris did have victories in important states with a large number of electoral votes, such as California and New York, but her lack of swing state victories is the main reason for her loss in terms of electoral votes.
Compared to the 2020 election, there was a large difference in the number of actual voters. In the 2024 election, Harris received 74,665,764 votes. Trump received 77,104,112. In the 2020 election, Biden received 81,283,501 votes and Trump received 74,223,975 votes. The disparity in returning voters is noteworthy. This is also the first time a Republican candidate has won the popular vote since 2004, when George W. Bush was elected.
Throughout the election, Trump focused on issues such as inflation, the economy, and immigration. Harris focused more on important social issues such as reproductive rights. Trump repeatedly denied any connections to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 despite speculation from citizens.
Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States on January 20th. Trump has already begun promising certain executive orders on his first day as president. These orders include mass deportation, dismantle the ‘deep state’ of government workers, removal of protections for transgender students, and imposing tariffs on imported goods.
