Around 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 6, the Associated Press officially called the 2024 Presidential Election, naming Donald Trump the next President of the United States. Trump is set to officially be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 20, 2025.
The race was called after Trump won the state of Wisconsin, officially giving him over 270 electoral votes. Later that day, Harris officially conceded the election during a speech at Howard University.
Trump won the Electoral College with 312 votes, improving his performance from 2020, compared to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 226. Trump is the second president to serve non-consecutive terms and will be the first president who is a convicted felon. By the end of his term, Trump, 78, will also be the oldest US President to date.
Unlike Trump’s victory in 2016, he also won the popular vote. Trump received around 76.5 million votes, which accounted for 50% of the total. Harris won around 74 million votes, which is 2.5 million shy of Trump’s total, though millions of votes, mainly from Democratic California, are still being counted, which could narrow the margin. Trump is the first Republican to win the popular vote since President George W. Bush in 2004.
The 2024 electoral map almost paralleled the one from 2016, the last time Trump won the presidential election. Nevada is the only outlier, voting Democratic in 2016 but Republican in this election. Trump won every swing state, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, to aid his victory. All swing states, except North Carolina, flipped for Trump this election cycle after voting for Joe Biden in 2020.
Election exit polls by NBC reveal that the majority of Trump’s votes came from white men, while most minority groups voted for Harris. Out of all of Trump’s voters, the qualities they care about most are the candidate’s ability to lead and create change. Their most important issues were mainly foreign policy, the economy and immigration. On the other hand, most voters for Harris desired a candidate who cared about people like them and had good judgment. The most important issues they cared about were either democracy or abortion rights.
Trump has a few steps to complete before he is inaugurated.
He is expected to nominate 15 cabinet members, administrative officials and senior staff. These nominations must pass through the Senate, which was also flipped Republican in the 2024 election, before officially receiving their new title. Many of these nominations have generated controversy, with some Senate Republicans stating they would not vote for certain nominees.
Students at Sidwell also feel very emotional about the election results. After waking up to learn that Trump had won the election officially, Junior Lucy Verma was “devastated” that a good portion of America had voted for Donald Trump again. “I’m shocked that the population didn’t learn their lesson the first time. I’m just terrified to know I will become an adult in a society that is against me.”