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President-elect Donald Trump has emerged as the expected victor of the 2024 presidential election, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in a competitive race for the White House.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Trump was projected to secure a minimum of 291 electoral votes, comfortably surpassing the 270 required for election victory.
According to projections from CBS News, Trump has successfully won five battleground states, while maintaining a lead in two others currently still counting votes. In total, seven states were classified as battlegrounds during this election cycle: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Notably, President Biden had won six of these states during the 2020 election, with the exception of North Carolina.
CBS News currently indicates that Nevada is leaning towards Trump, while Arizona remains categorized as a toss-up.
Here’s a closer examination of the states Trump lost in 2020 but secured in 2024:
Georgia
Trump is projected to win Georgia based on election night forecasts. Although votes are still being processed, with 99% of jurisdictions reporting, he is ahead by roughly 2 percentage points.
This marks a significant turnaround for Trump in Georgia, a state he narrowly lost to Biden by less than 12,000 votes in 2020, an outcome that led to his controversial attempts to persuade state officials to “find” additional votes.
Michigan
In Michigan, Trump has reclaimed the state after Biden’s win in 2020. As of 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Trump held a lead of 1.5 percentage points with nearly 99% of the votes counted, translating to approximately 83,000 votes.
Biden had secured Michigan by a margin of just over 150,000 votes four years prior.
Pennsylvania
Trump has also triumphed in Pennsylvania, capturing its 19 electoral votes with a lead of 2.3 points, equating to a margin of just over 150,000 votes as of midday Wednesday. The counting of votes is still underway in the state.
In the previous election cycle, Biden bested Trump in Pennsylvania by a significant margin of 181,000 votes.
Wisconsin
Trump has regained Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes. With nearly all the votes counted as of Wednesday, he was ahead of Harris by about 1 percentage point, or nearly 30,000 votes.
Back in 2016, Trump ended a long Democratic winning streak in Wisconsin, defeating Hillary Clinton. However, Biden managed to emerge victorious in the state by less than a percentage point in 2020.
Other battleground states in 2024
Arizona
As of Wednesday afternoon, Arizona was still viewed as a toss-up by CBS News, although there’s a slight lean towards Trump.
Biden won Arizona by a razor-thin margin of 0.3 points, or 10,457 votes, in 2020. This was only the second instance since 1948 that Arizona supported a Democratic presidential candidate, making it a focal point in the 2024 contest.
Nevada
CBS News noted that Nevada, which has six electoral votes, appeared to lean in Trump’s favor on Wednesday. Biden claimed victory in the state in 2020 by over 30,000 votes, and it has not voted for a Republican since 2004.
North Carolina
North Carolina, a state Trump had previously won in 2020, remained Republican in 2024. With nearly all votes accounted for, Trump has a lead of 3.3 points over Harris in this state.
Source
www.cbsnews.com