In a decisive victory against Vice President Kamala Harris, President-elect Donald J. Trump has reclaimed the presidency of the United States. Accompanied by Senator JD Vance, Trump secured his win with 312 electoral votes, including those from all seven projected swing states.
In addition to Trump’s presidential victory, the Republicans have secured a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. This year, the Republicans gained four seats in the Senate and this shift is expected to allow Trump to accomplish more of his proposed policies during his second presidential term.
In the U.S., the Electoral College is used to elect the president and vice president. Under this system, citizens vote for electors, who in turn cast their votes for the correlating candidates. Each state has the same number of electors as it does members in Congress: one for each member in the House of Representatives and the two senators. In all states except for Maine and Nebraska, the presidential nominee who wins the majority of votes in that state will win all of the electoral votes in that state. To be elected president, candidates must receive 270 electoral votes.
This year, the voter turnout was 20 million fewer compared to the 2020 election. Compared to Biden, Harris underperformed not only in the swing states, but also in states that traditionally voted Democrat. In New York specifically, the Democratic margin shrunk by approximately one million votes since the 2020 election. According to Fei Li (II), president of BridgeBLS, “A lot of people also end up not doing research and not voting.” This decrease in voter turnout, especially for the Democrats, contributed greatly to Harris’s loss of key states.
This year, Trump easily collected electoral votes from historically Republican states in the South, such as Texas and Alabama. Trump, however, focused his efforts on winning over more demographically diverse voters, most notably Hispanic and Latino populations, which contributed greatly to Trump’s victory and the red shift seen during this election.
Harris lost the swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania by narrow margins of one to three percent. She focused her campaign on these states since they were states that Democratic presidential candidates won between 1992 to 2012, before Trump first ran for president in 2016. After she lost these states, it was mathematically impossible for her to gain the 270 electoral votes necessary to win the election. AP U.S. Government and Politics student Emily Yu (I) explains, “I think what happened was that a lot of fervor from Harris stepping up was very much generated by people who were already going to vote for the Harris-Walz ticket. […] I think that just not enough time was spent convincing undecided voters.”
Despite Trump winning the swing states, Harris still managed to secure support in traditionally Democratic states on the West and East coasts. Massachusetts voted for the Democratic Party not only in the presidential election, but also in the Senate and House elections.
During his campaign, Trump pledged to establish the largest deportation of undocumented immigrants in history, increase tariffs on foreign trade and decrease inflation rates. Meanwhile, Harris advocated for higher taxes on the rich, the right to have an abortion and protection of democracy.
One of the most significant policies Trump plans to enact during his presidential term is increased tariffs. He plans to increase these taxes on foreign imports to at least 10 to 20 percent, with tariffs on Chinese goods possibly increasing to 60 percent. This policy is aimed at discouraging consumption of foreign goods to protect American industries, which could theoretically improve the national economy.
Boston Latin School AP Economics teacher Mr. Patrick Boor explains, “Generally speaking, economists don’t like tariffs because it interferes with trade. […] And so the fear about Trump’s proposed 60 percent tariff on goods coming from China and 10 percent tariffs on goods coming from elsewhere is a fear that that will raise prices for American consumers.”
It is unclear whether Trump’s various proposed policies will be implemented under his administration, and only time will tell what changes will be made.
President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance will be inaugurated on January 20, 2025.