Editor’s note: Reporting is based on unofficial data and is accurate as of 5:00 p.m., Nov. 7.
Former Republican President Donald J. Trump defeated current Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
Trump’s victory comes after a historic election season full of irregularities including two assassination attempts on Trump, President Joe Biden stepping down as the Democratic nominee after a largely uncontested primary election and a short four month attempt to rally support for the Harris and Walz ticket.
Trump is also the first convicted felon to win the presidency and only the second president to win nonconsecutive terms.
Along with the Electoral College, Trump won the popular vote by almost 3.5% over Harris becoming the first Republican president since George W. Bush’s second term to win the popular vote. Having lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College in 2016, Trump joins a list of five presidents to achieve the measure.
NBC’s Decision Desk declared Trump the victor shortly after 1 a.m. on November 6 after Trump reached 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Trump reached the threshold after winning Wisconsin, one of the “blue wall” states including Michigan and Pennsylvania. All three states flipped back to Trump in 2024 after going for Biden in 2020.
Along with Trump’s presidential victory, Republicans won enough seats to control the United States Senate. Current results show Republicans leading with 53 seats and Democrats holding 45. The House of Representatives is still undecided as votes continue to pour in, but a Republican trifecta remains possible. At the time of publication, roughly thirty seats remain with Republicans controlling 210 seats to Democrats 198.
President Trump and Vice President JD Vance will take office on January 20, 2025.
Swing states and key statistics
Donald Trump is likely to win all seven battleground states in 2024 included Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Trump has won Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Although counting in Arizona and Nevada is ongoing, Trump appears likely to win the 17 combined electoral votes placing him at 312 electoral votes to Harris’ 226. Nevada sits at 90% reported and Arizona at 69%. Maricopa County, Ariz. officials said counting could take up to 10 days. Trump sits at 52% in Arizona and 51% in Nevada, with Harris trailing at 47% in each state.
Overall Trump gained 3.1 points in overall victories from 2020 to 2024, a shift from President Joe Biden’s 1.9 points of improvement from 2016 to 2020.
Trump gained 3.1 points in Pennsylvania, 1.5 in Wisconsin, 2.1 in North Carolina, 2.4 in Georgia and 4.2 points in Michigan.
Pennsylvania ultimately shifted back to Trump after Biden won the state in 2020. In 2024, Trump flipped the counties of Erie, Monroe, Bucks and Northampton which Biden secured in 2020. Trump won Bucks County with a margin of roughly 500 votes after losing by over 17,000 in 2020.
2024 also saw major shifts for both candidates across demographics.
Trump gained one percentage point with men and two with women, reaching numbers of 54% of men and 44% of women. Harris lost three percentage points for women and one percent for men compared to Biden in 2020.
Trump lost three percentage points with white people, stagnated with Black people but saw a thirteen percent increase with Hispanic and Latino people reaching a high of 45%. Harris lost 12% of Hispanic and Latino voters from 2020.
Hispanic men shifted toward Trump by over 13 points. Native Americans also followed with a 10-point increase.
The rural-suburban-urban divide was still present, but generally shifted in Trump’s favor with rural votes gaining four points, suburban counties gaining 4.5 and urban counties gaining 5.6 towards Trump.
The college-educated divide was also challenged with Trump gaining 4.5 points in majority college-educated counties. He also gained 5.4 points in majority non-college educated counties. Within education levels, Harris took the lead with 61% of advanced degree holders and 54% of bachelor degree holders. Associate degree and less college education leaned towards Trump with voters who never attended college voting for Trump at 62%.
Areas with high Arab American populations also voted overwhelmingly for Trump and Green Party candidate Jill Stein. For example, America’s highest Arab American city, Dearborn, Mich. turned away from Harris giving Trump 42.28% of the vote and Jill Stein 18.37%.
Comparing 2020 to 2024, independents shifted four points towards Trump. First time voters also jumped 22% for Republicans but decreased 19% for Democrats, according to early and unofficial voting data from NBC News.
