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While the 2024 presidential election was among the closest in recent memory — with President-elect Donald Trump ahead by about 3 percentage points over Vice President Kamala Harris — Trump's vote share grew in a diverse array of regions across the country and across different demographic groups. It's the first time in Trump's three campaigns for the White House that he's topped his opponent in the popular vote , and only the second time since 1988 that any Republican has done so. In 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won almost 66 million votes (48%), compared to Trump's nearly 63 million (46%), but Trump won the Electoral College.
In 2020, he lost both the Electoral College and the popular vote to President Biden, who received about 81 million votes (51%) nationwide, compared to Trump's 74 million (47%). Trump's victory in 2024 was driven by improvements in support in a vast majority of counties nationwide — more than 9 in 10 — according to data from counties where at least 95% of votes have been counted as of Friday. Trump's improvements crossed regions, and included urban, suburban and rural gains.
Trump even fared better in most places where a majority of voters preferred Harris, like New Jersey, or across the Hudson River, in his hometown of New York City. The Garden State, a longtime Democratic stronghold, swung markedly in Trump's favor. For instance, the latest data show Trump with a slim 3% lead in suburban Passaic County, where he got just 41% of the vote in 2020.
In New York City, where Trump grew up and spent most of his life before entering politics, he didn't just surpass his two previous results; his roughly 30% vote share topped every Republican candidate since Ronald Reagan, 40 years ago. Nearly 2,000 miles away, Maverick County, Texas, a majority Latino border county that Biden carried easily in 2020, swung even more, about 28 points. Trump in 2024 outperformed Biden's 2020 showing, and Harris fared worse than Trump did in 2020.
CBS News exit polls from the last two elections showed Trump gaining among both men and women this year. In 2020, Trump won men by a hair, 49% to 48%, but in 2024, his campaign's efforts to woo men appear to have paid off: his support from men grew to 55%. In 2020, Trump managed to win 43% of women voters.
In 2024, despite Democrats' focus on women voters and abortion access , which boosted them in the midterm election races , Trump still increased his numbers with women, notching up that figure two ticks, to 45%. Trump made gains among core groups within the traditional Republican coalition, such as evangelical voters. But he also increased his support among groups Democrats have relied on, including young voters and Latino voters, such as those in Maverick County and another former Democratic stronghold, Florida's Miami-Dade, which Mr.
Biden won in 2020, with 53%. This year, Trump carried the county with about 55% of the vote, becoming the first Republican to win there since 1988. The chart below shows the change in support for Trump in demographic groups between 2020 and 2024.
Joe Biden Kamala Harris Donald Trump Graham Kates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy issues and information security for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at [email protected] or grahamkates@protonmail.
com.
