Welcome back to Know Your Vote, USA TODAY Network's one-week series on everything you need to know to be an informed voter. |
A handful of swing counties in the country's top swing states could play a crucial role in deciding this election. Today, we take a look at them, and how they voted in the 2020 U.S. presidential election cycle. | The results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election could yield insights into voter engagement for the 2024 race. Veronica Bravo |
These battleground areas, where Democratic and Republican candidates each stand a competitive chance, represent some of the nation's most divided neighborhoods and shifting political moods. |
Winning these counties, and in turn the states they live in, could make or break one White House hopeful's bid. |
Here's what to know about five of the counties that could have Americans waiting up on election night. |
Encompassing Arizona's capital, Phoenix, Maricopa County may take some time to call this November. |
Once a reliably Republican region, Arizona has become a key swing state in recent years, and Maricopa sits at the center of this battleground. |
In former President Donald Trump's first campaign, the Republican nominee carried the state 48% to 45%, and Maricopa County by the same measure. Four years later, though, President Joe Biden won the state overall by less than a point and Maricopa by 2 percentage points. |
Maricopa County may also sound familiar as the site of ongoing election controversy following the 2020 election. Trump and his allies claimed there was election fraud in the county, allegations that were inflamed by a controversial Arizona Senate audit. |
Maricopa officials have rebutted these claims, and there is not evidence of widespread election fraud in the county. |
Erie County, Pennsylvania |
Located in the northwestern tip of Pennsylvania, Erie County has swung back and forth for Democrats and Republicans in recent elections, leaving the question of who voters there will go for in 2024. |
Four years after former President Barack Obama won the county with a commanding lead, Trump secured victory in the state in 2016 by less than a point and in the blue-collar county by 2 points. |
Erie County flipped yet again, though, in 2020, going for Biden 50% to 49%. |
Kent County, in western Michigan, was once a Republican stronghold in a key swing state with a blue edge. Now, the area is yet another to go back and forth between parties, specifically changing their minds on Trump. |
Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by 3 points in Kent County in 2016 but lost the county – and the state – to Biden by a wider margin in 2020. |
Miami-Dade County, Florida |
Florida has shifted lately from a perennial swing state to more reliably Republican, and one reason is that the GOP has become much more competitive in the Sunshine State's largest county, Miami-Dade. |
Hillary Clinton won Miami-Dade by 30 points in 2016, but Joe Biden only carried it by 7 in 2020. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis turned the county red in 2022, winning it by 11 points in his reelection bid. |
Florida Democrats must run up the score in the urban, heavily-populated and traditionally blue southeast counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach to be competitive in the state. But DeSantis flipped both Miami-Dade and Palm Beach in 2022, breaking the Democratic playbook. |
That makes Miami-Dade worth watching this cycle to see if Democrats can get their mojo back. They've been trending in that direction, with the county's Democratic mayor easily winning reelection this year. |
The majority Hispanic county also could say something about where the parties stand with Latino voters, although Hispanics in Miami-Dade – where many people come from South America, not Mexico -- tend to be more conservative than the rest of the country. |
One of the country's most politically competitive states, Wisconsin will be an important battleground for candidates in 2024. Within that, Dane County could be an epicenter of the state's competition. |
Located in southern Wisconsin and including the city of Madison, Dane County is a Democratic stronghold. Hillary Clinton carried the county by almost 50 points in 2016, and Biden grew on that lead in 2020, defeating Trump 76% to 23% in Dane County. |
While Wisconsin as a whole sits up for grabs by either party's candidate, this area of the state will be one to watch with its potential to tip the scale in Democrats' favor next November. |
Tomorrow, we'll go over some logistics of voting, from how to register to how to vote early or by mail. |
-The USA TODAY Network 2024 Election Team | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment