Trump did well in deep-blue states, a sign of his broadening appeal
- Trump's victory was ultimately powered by his sweep of the seven battleground states.
- But he's also expected to win the popular vote, and he did unusually well in deep-blue states.
President-elect Donald Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris was powered by his sweep of the "battleground" states that both candidates contested.
But Trump also did unusually well for a Republican presidential candidate in several heavily Democratic states that had reported most of their results by Wednesday morning, indicating that his appeal has broadened since his narrow 2016 victory and his 2020 loss.
Across several of those states, Trump exceeded his own previous performance in 2020 — in other words, Harris fared worse than President Joe Biden. Here's how Harris is doing compared to Biden in 2020, according to unofficial results from the Associated Press:
- Illinois — Harris leads Trump by more than 8 points. Biden defeated Trump by nearly 17 points in 2020.
- New Jersey — Harris leads by less than 4.5 points. Biden won by nearly 16 points in 2020.
- New York — Harris leads by about 11.5 points. Biden won by more than 23 points in 2020.
- Connecticut — Harris leads by more than 12 points. Biden won by more than 20 points in 2020.
- Maryland — Harris leads by nearly 23 points. Biden won by more than 33 points in 2020.
Votes continue to be counted in California, where it may take weeks to have a final tally.
There was also evidence of a rightward shift in other large states, according to the AP.
In 2020, Trump won Texas by just 5.6 points. This year, he leads Harris by nearly 14 points. Trump also leads by more than 13 points in Florida and is the first Republican since 1988 to win Miami-Dade County.
Trump appears likely to win the popular vote as well — something he did not accomplish when he pulled off a narrow Electoral College victory in 2016, or when he lost in 2020.
Exit polling conducted by a consortium of major news outlets, including NBC, CNN, CBS, and ABC, offers a more precise view of how Trump made inroads with traditionally Democratic constituencies.
The most notable difference from 2020 so far was among Hispanic and Latino voters.
According to exit polling, Trump won 45% of the Hispanic and Latino vote, including 54% of Hispanic and Latino men. In 2020, he won just 32% of those Hispanic and Latino voters overall.