Democrat Joe Biden took over as president of the United States on Saturday, winning over Republican President Donald Trump in a tight election that was not decided until days after the polls closed on Tuesday.
Here are 10 numbers that help explain a historic American election that took place amid a global pandemic and a global economic recession. The data is derived from the voting figures available as of Saturday afternoon:
65 million
The coronavirus crisis made voting by mail the preferred option for some 65 million Americans, about half of those who voted. The rise in voting by mail, followed by the U.S. Elections Project, also overwhelmed poll workers in many states, and the slow count kept the world on edge for days.
18%
From the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt, Biden won more votes than Trump in the suburbs and other areas leaning toward affluence. Turnout in suburban counties was on track to rise about 18% as college-educated voters repudiated Trump. Turnout increased less in primarily rural counties, where the Republican incumbent had broad support.
4 millions
Americans religiously revamped their screens for three days to pursue an extremely close race in the Electoral College, the body that ultimately determines a winner in America’s single electoral system. But the popular vote was much less close, with Biden’s margin of victory at more than 4 million votes and rising.
58%
That’s the percentage of white male voters who supported Trump this year, but the president had less influence with this key part of his political base than in 2016, according to an exit poll by Edison Research that showed his support was 4 percentage points. lower this year.
2 millions
Compared to four years ago, Trump garnered more than 2 million votes in the counties most devastated by the coronavirus. That was less than Biden collected relative to his party’s turnout in 2016, but it’s still an increase. While the epidemic was a top voter concern, Trump’s share of the vote remained stable in counties with more than 70 deaths per 100,000 residents.
42-7
That may sound like a football score, but it’s a key measure of how the political landscape has changed since 2016.
Biden was on track to win 42 counties that Trump won four years ago. On the battlefield state of Michigan, Biden won Kent County, a long-standing and prosperous Republican stronghold where Trump held his last campaign rallies of 2016 and 2020. Meanwhile, Trump was on track to change just seven counties. who voted for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016.
7
Trump lost Miami-Dade County Florida, a Democratic stronghold, by just 7 percentage points, compared to the 29-point loss he suffered there in 2016. The president won the state again this year in part because he garnered more support from Latino voters. , especially around Miami, where the president’s antisocialist message was directed at Cuban-American and Venezuelan-American voters.
92/70
Those represent the largest margins of victory in a state or the District of Columbia for Biden and Trump, respectively. Biden’s came in the Democratic stronghold of Washington, DC, while Trump’s made his mark in Wyoming, which hasn’t lined up with a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. The blowout victories, while impressive, garnered just three electoral votes for each.
2
Trump’s ranking as the top vote-getter in an election, right behind Biden. And right behind Trump? Biden’s former boss, former President Barack Obama.
Two is also the number of times Trump lost the popular vote.
0
The number of times Trump has granted a presidential election. Currently, his attorneys are raising legal challenges to Biden’s victory.
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