Not to minimize the votes of people living in 80% of the country, but so much of what is going to be decided on Election Day is happening in 11 states or so. So which are the swing states to watch?
First up is Florida. The Sunshine State offers up 29 electoral votes and has been a good indicator of who will win the presidency in the last five elections. Bush won Florida in 2000 and 2004, Obama won in 2008 and 2012, and Trump narrowly edged out Hillary in 2016.
Next up, Pennsylvania. The Keystone State threw its support towards Trump in the last election by less than 1%. The Trump victory in Pennsylvania was the first Republican win since George H.W. Bush won there in 1988. Comments from Joe Biden in the final presidential debate about transitioning away from the oil industry have hurt him in recent polling in the state pushing Pennsylvania into a true toss-up state.
Wisconsin delivered a shocking loss to the Clinton Campaign in 2016 and once again could prove to be an important swing state for both candidates.
Michigan typically leans blue, but Trump swung the state red in 2016 and is hoping to keep it red this time around. Looking to repeat his success, the president held his final campaign rally in Grand Rapids in 2016 and finished up his 2020 campaign there as well.
North Carolina has typically leaned Republican, but the Biden Campaign feels they have a great shot at stealing the Tar Heel state that Trump won in 2016. Obama was victorious in North Carolina in 2008 but lost there in 2012.
Georgia is a state that does not typically go blue, in fact, the last Democrat to win in Georgia was Bill Clinton back in 1992. Trump claimed Georgia by 5 percentage points in the last election and is hoping to keep the state red.
Ohio is basically a dead heat, according to polls coming out of the Buckeye State. Trump won there rather easily in 2016 and Joe Biden has spent close to $7 million in the state trying to win its 18 electoral votes.
Arizona and Iowa are two states most expected to go Trump but, according to polls in both states, the Hawkeye and Grand Canyon states could go either way.
Add comment