The US election this year has about 240 million eligible voters, but only a small percentage of those will likely decide who will be the country’s next president.
Only a small number of states, in the opinion of experts, are reasonably competitive for either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, the Democratic or Republican nominee.
Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are the six states that could determine who wins the presidency.
Now that the election is nearing its conclusion, both campaigns are working tirelessly to win over voters who are still undecided in these states.
Arizona
Grand Canyon State, which for the first time since the 1990s narrowly voted to support their party’s nominee, helped the Democrats win the presidency in 2020.
This state, which shares hundreds of miles of border with Mexico, is currently at the center of the country’s immigration controversy.
Since border crossings have decreased recently from all-time highs, voters’ top concerns are now border crossings.
Given that Ms. Harris was tasked by President Joe Biden with attempting to resolve the border crisis, Trump has frequently criticized Ms. Harris’s immigration record.
In addition, if he wins back the presidency, he has promised to conduct “the largest deportation operation” in US history.
A bitter dispute over abortion access has also arisen in Arizona, where state Republicans tried and failed to bring back a nearly two-century-old, nearly complete ban on abortion.
Since the US Supreme Court reversed a historic decision in 2022 that granted women the constitutional right to an abortion, the issue has gained national attention and become highly charged.
Migrant numbers at the US-Mexico border
Total number of encounters by US border patrols, per month
/https://usafacts.org/articles/what-can-the-data-tell-us-about-unauthorized-immigration/
Georgia
The list of states on our list of swing states closely resembles the list of states where Republican officials backed by Trump attempted to obstruct Mr. Biden’s election victory in 2020.
Alleged election meddling in Fulton County, Georgia, has led to one of President Trump’s four criminal prosecutions (one case has resulted in a conviction, and the other three are still pending).
He and eighteen other people are charged with plotting to reverse his narrow loss to Mr. Biden in the state. It appears increasingly unlikely that a court will hear the case before the election, as Trump vigorously denies any wrongdoing.
Georgia has one of the highest percentages of black residents in the nation—a third of its population is African-American—and it is thought that this group played a significant role in Mr. Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Some disillusionment with Mr Biden had been reported among America’s black voters, but the Harris campaign hopes to animate this constituency.
Michigan
In the previous two presidential elections, the Great Lakes state selected the victor. Despite supporting Mr. Biden in 2020, the move has come to represent a backlash against the president in the country due to his support for Israel during the Gaza War.
More than 100,000 voters selected the “uncommitted” option on their ballots during Michigan’s Democratic primary in February as a part of a campaign organized by activists who demand that the US government stop providing military aid to Israel.
Interestingly, Michigan has the highest percentage of Arab-Americans in the nation, a group whose support for Mr. Biden was in doubt. Ms. Harris, however, has adopted a more critical stance toward Israel, and some Gaza demonstrators told the BBC that they hope she will show greater empathy for their plight.
Trump has emphasized the importance of the state to his possible winning strategy. Speaking about the Middle East, he has urged Israel to “get it over with fast” once its campaign against Hamas in Gaza is complete.
Nevada
The Silver State has tended to vote Democratic in recent elections, but there are indications that the Republicans may be about to make a comeback.
According to recent averages released by poll-tracking company 538, Trump and Mr. Biden formerly had a sizable lead in polls, but that lead has narrowed since Ms. Harris rose to the top of the ticket. Democrats had hoped to close the gap with a candidate more appealing to younger and diverse voters.
In the race for the state’s sizable Latino population, both contenders are competing.
Nevada’s post-Covid recovery has been slower than other states’, despite the US economy experiencing robust growth and job creation since Mr. Biden assumed office.
Based on the most recent US government statistics, the state has the highest unemployment rate in the nation, 5.1%, behind only California and the District of Columbia.
In the event that Trump wins reelection, he has promised to reinstate his agenda of universal tax cuts and fewer regulations.
Pennsylvania
The state supported Mr. Biden and proved to be crucial in the 2020 election. His childhood home, the working-class city of Scranton, holds a special place in his heart.
Here, as in many other places, the economy is a major concern. Under the Biden administration, nationwide inflation peaked before progressively declining.
Pennsylvanians are by no means the only Americans experiencing pressures on their standard of living due to inflation. However, market research firm Datasembly claims that the cost of groceries has increased more quickly in their state than any other.
High inflation may harm Ms. Harris nationally because, according to polls, it is distorting voters’ perceptions of the state of the economy.
In an attempt to undermine her, Trump has linked her to the Biden economic plan.
Wisconsin
The Republicans chose Milwaukee to host their 2024 convention
Additionally, the Badger State selected the victorious presidential candidate by a margin of just over 20,000 votes in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.Commentators have suggested that third-party candidates running against the major two candidates’ policies could have the biggest impact in marginal states like this one.According to polls, a sizable demonstration of support for independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could hurt Ms. Harris’s or Trump’s vote totals. Democrats have also filed an elections complaint against left-leaning academic Cornel West. They have been fighting to have Green Party candidate Jill Stein removed from the ballot here, claiming the party did not follow state election laws.
from this ballot, claiming the party disregarded local election regulations and having lodged an election grievance against the left-wing scholar Cornel West.
According to Trump, Wisconsin is “very important… if we win Wisconsin, we win the whole thing.” Milwaukee hosted the Republican National Convention in the summer.
When Ms. Harris received a live stream of her party’s official nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate, she was holding a rally in the same city.
Kamala Harris was in Milwaukee when she received her party’s formal nomination
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