USA TODAY US Edition

Biden’s margin of victory no landslide, no squeaker

- Jeanine Santucci

WASHINGTON – As vote counts continued to add up in the days after Election Day, President-elect Joe Biden’s lead in several key battlegrou­nd states grew, pushing him to his Electoral College victory over President Donald Trump.

But unlike preelectio­n polling led many to believe what would happen, Biden’s victory was not a landslide. It was, however, more than a slim margin.

With states that are now called, Biden leads in electoral votes with 290 to Trump’s 214. He appears poised to secure a comfortabl­e electoral vote margin over Trump, all told.

Here’s a look at how Biden’s 2020 election win compares with the previous presidenti­al contest:

Key states that shifted blue

In 2016, Trump was able to increase his share of votes in many counties, particular­ly in the Midwest. This time around, while many counties continued the trend of growth in Republican votes, other places shifted back toward Democrats, notably in key battlegrou­nds such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvan­ia and Georgia. Biden’s key to victory was to flip states that narrowly went for Trump last time.

In Wisconsin in 2016, Trump won by a margin of 0.82% of the vote. In 2020, Biden’s win in the state was by an even slimmer 0.63%.

Trump took Michigan in 2016 with a 0.24% lead over Hillary Clinton, but Biden reversed the state in 2020 with a 2.69% lead over Trump.

In Pennsylvan­ia, Trump won in 2016 with a 0.75% margin. Biden holds a 0.68% margin over Trump in the state in 2020, with vote counts still coming in.

Trump also won in Georgia in 2016 with a 5.16% margin. The state has yet to be called because of an expected recount, but Biden was up by more than 12,600 votes, or 0.2%, on Tuesday afternoon.

The popular vote

As of Tuesday afternoon, Biden was leading Trump by more than 4.9 million votes, at 76.4 million. He broke the record for most votes ever received by a

presidenti­al candidate, which had been held by Barack Obama for his 2008 win. 2020 also saw record voter turnout. According to the U.S. Elections Project, the nation is on track to see the highest voter turnout for a presidenti­al election in more than a century.

In 2016, Trump lost the popular vote to Clinton by almost 3 million votes (more than 2%) but won the Electoral College thanks to the right combinatio­n of states and therefore took the presidency.

Trump isn’t alone in winning the presidency without the popular vote; George W. Bush lost the popular vote to Al Gore in 2000 but won the election. Until then, it hadn’t happened since 1888.

The electoral vote

Georgia, which appears to be going blue in its presidenti­al pick for the first time since 1992, is still subject to a recount because of how close the vote is, and a victor hasn’t been called. But Biden looks poised to win the state by a narrow margin and stands to gain its 16 electoral votes.

If he succeeds in Georgia, that state along with wins in states like Arizona and Nevada would put him at 306 electoral votes, exactly the same number that Trump won in 2016 (though only 304 electors ended up voting for him).

Trump referred to his own Electoral College win in 2016 as a “massive landslide victory.” But now the president is launching a legal attack on the election results that experts say has little basis. The Trump campaign has made allegation­s of widespread voter fraud for which there is no evidence.

 ?? JARRAD HENDERSON/USA TODAY NETWORK ?? People celebrate outside of the White House after President-elect Joe Biden’s victory was announced Saturday.
JARRAD HENDERSON/USA TODAY NETWORK People celebrate outside of the White House after President-elect Joe Biden’s victory was announced Saturday.
 ?? DAVID GOLDMAN/AP ?? Voters line up in Sterling Heights, Mich. President Donald Trump took the state in 2016, but Joe Biden took a 2.69% lead over Trump in the state this election.
DAVID GOLDMAN/AP Voters line up in Sterling Heights, Mich. President Donald Trump took the state in 2016, but Joe Biden took a 2.69% lead over Trump in the state this election.

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