Swing states: how Democratic vote stayed flat while Republican gains won it for Trump

Guardian analysis suggests Harris underperformed compared with 2020 – but in the states that mattered most it was Trump’s gains that won him the White House

Nationwide, the US election was primarily a story of Democratic underperformance rather than huge Republican gains compared to 2020 – but in the swing states that ultimately decided the victor, it was the opposite story, with Trump’s gains far outstripping Harris’s losses.

Across the US, Democrats lost more total votes overall compared with 2020 than Republicans gained: Harris attracted 1.4m fewer votes than her Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, did, while Trump attracted 1.1m more than he did in the previous election.

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