Presidential election results map.Red denotes those won by Trump/Vance, andBlue denotes states won by Harris/Walz. Numbers indicate allottedelectoral votes.
11 of 50 state governors 2 of 5 territorial governors
Net seat change
0
Map of the 2024 gubernatorial elections Democratic hold Republican hold New Progressive hold Non-partisan No election
Elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. Inthe presidential election, former Republican PresidentDonald Trump, seeking a non-consecutive second term, defeated the incumbent Democratic Vice PresidentKamala Harris. Republicans also gained control of the Senate and held narrow control of the House of Representatives, winning agovernment trifecta for the first time since2016.[1]
This was the third consecutive presidential election in which the incumbent party lost the presidential election (2016, 2020, and 2024). The last time neither the presidency nor a chamber of Congress changed control was in 2012.
This was also the first time since1980 that Republicans flipped control of a chamber of Congress in a presidential year, and that Democrats were voted out after a single four-year presidential term.[2]
This election cycle was notable for two attempted assassinations on Donald Trump, the first inPennsylvania, in which he was shot, and the second inFlorida. This was the first time a U.S. president (current or former) had been shot at since1981, and the first time a U.S. presidential candidate had been shot on the campaign trail since1972. Major issues across the elections were theeconomy,abortion,immigration,democracy, andforeign policy.
During the 2024 election cycle, Donald Trump faced multiple criminal and civil court cases. By December 2022, one month after announcing his re-election bid,[3] he had four criminalindictments totaling 86 felony counts.[4] Trump and many Republicans made numerous false and misleading statements regarding Trump's criminal trials, including false claims that they are "rigged" or "election interference" orchestrated by Biden and the Democratic Party, of which there is no evidence.[5][6]
Trump was found liable on May 9, 2023, by an anonymous jury,[8] inE. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump for battery and defamation,[9] and was ordered to pay a total of $88.3-million combined judgement,[10]
In September 2023, Trump was found guilty offinancial fraud inNew York v. Trump and was ordered to pay a $354.8 million judgement,[11] in which Trump appealed.
Polling before the election indicated profound dissatisfaction with the state ofAmerican democracy on both sides of the electorate.[17]
Liberals tended to believe thatconservatives were threatening democracy following theirattempts to overturn the 2020 election.[18] During the election, significant debate broke out about whether Donald Trumpcould be considered a fascist. According to one poll conducted on October 25, 2024, 49% of Americans saw Trump as a fascist, described as "a political extremist who seeks to act as a dictator, disregards individual rights and threatens or uses force against their opponents". Meanwhile, only 22% saw Harris as a fascist by this definition.[19]
Some Republicans were concerned that Trump's formerimpeachment andfour criminal indictments were attempts to influence the election and keep him from office;[20] however, there is no evidence that Trump's criminal trials were "election interference" orchestrated by Biden and the Democratic Party,[21][22] and Trump also continued to repeatfalse claims that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen from him.[23]
After Trump wasshot at an election rally in an assassination attempt,[24] polling soon after the event showed that one third of Americans agreed that the assassination attempt of Trump was "part of a broader plot or conspiracy", and nearly half of those polled answering "very or somewhat likely" to the idea that "The U.S. will no longer be a democracy" within 10 years.[25]
Voters consistently cited the current status of the U.S. economy as their top issue in the 2024 election.[26] Following theCOVID-19 pandemic, a globalsurge in inflation ensued that raised prices on many goods, though the U.S. inflation rate had declined significantly during 2023 and 2024.[27][28][29]The New York Times reported that both candidates "embraced a vision of a powerful federal government, using its muscle to intervene in markets in pursuit of a stronger and more prosperous economy."[30]
The chief divide between the two major parties on the economy going into the election cycle were the incumbent Democrats pointing out that the economy was strong and well on its way to recovering from the effects of worldwide inflation,[31] initially coining the term "Bidenomics",[32] but acknowledging that goods were still too expensive and promising action to increase affordability.[33] Republicans argued that the economy was better while they were in office,[34] and promised to quickly bring down inflation, increase tariffs, and cut taxes and regulations.[35]
Border security and immigration were among the top issues concerning potential voters in the election.[36][37] Polling throughout the election cycle showed that most Americans wanted to reduce immigration.[38] Soon after President Biden assumed office in 2021, entries into the US began to rise, worsening in 2023 and early 2024 as a surge of migrants through the border with Mexico occurred, causing record high levels of illegal entry into the US.[39] By June 2024, illegal crossings reached a three-year low following four consecutive monthly drops, which senior government officials attributed to increased enforcement between the United States and Mexico, the weather, and Biden'sexecutive order which increased asylum restrictions,[40] but were still higher than average numbers recorded by the former Trump administration.[41]
This was the first presidential election held afterthe overturn ofRoe v. Wade, and the third overall election cycle after the2022 midterm elections and the2023 off-year elections.Republican-controlled states predominantly passed near-total bans onabortion in the aftermath of theSupreme Court's June 2022Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision. By April 2023, abortion was "largely illegal" inseveral states.[42] According to theKaiser Family Foundation, there were 15 states that hadde jure early stage bans on abortion explicitly without exceptions forrape orincest: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.[42] (Ohio voters subsequently codified abortion rights in Ohio's state constitution viaNovember 2023 Ohio Issue 1.) In states with laws granting exceptions, it was reportedde facto that "very few exceptions to these new abortion bans have been granted" and that patients who had been raped or otherwise qualified for exceptions were being turned away, citing "ambiguous laws and the threat of criminal penalties make them unwilling to test the rules".[43]
With the war in the Middle East betweenIsrael and its regional neighbors under increased international scrutiny as it continued to escalate, many Americans had protested in support and in opposition to theUnited States continued friendship and alliance with Israel.
A pro-Palestine protest at Columbia University in New York
Many cities[45][46] and universities[47][48] experienced anti-Israeli protests calling on the US to end its support for the Israeli government and other Israeli institutions, which included calls for Americans to not support the 2024 election efforts of President Biden or Vice President Harris due to their administration's continued support for Israel.[49]Domestic American Pro-Israel groups had meanwhile spent large sums of money to support pro-Israel candidates against candidates critical of theIsraeli government.[50][51] According to a campaign finance analysis byPolitico,AIPAC was the "biggest source of Republican money flowing into competitive Democratic primaries this year."[52]
The 2024 United States presidential election was the 60th quadrennial U.S. presidential election. This was the first presidential election under theelectoral vote distribution based upon the2020 census. In each state, thepresidential electors who actually elect the President and Vice President of the United States were chosen; a simple majority (270) of the 538 electoral votes is required to win the election.
In October 2023,Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced hisrun as an independent presidential candidate.[66] On August 23, 2024, Kennedy announced he was suspending his campaign and backing Trump.[67] In July, intermediaries between Trump and Kennedy discussed a possible role for Kennedy in the Trump administration in return for his endorsement;[68] a month later, Kennedy made similar overtures to the Harris campaign, but was rebuffed.[69]
All 33 seats inSenate Class 1 and one seat in Senate Class 2 were up for election; two additional special elections took place to fill vacancies that arose during the118th Congress. Democrats controlled the majority in the closely divided Senate following the2022 U.S. Senate elections, but they had to defend 23 seats in 2024. Three Democratic-held seats up for election were in the heavily Republican-leaning states ofMontana,Ohio, andWest Virginia, all of which were won comfortably by Trump in both2016 and2020.[70]
Colorado's 4th congressional district: RepublicanGreg Lopez defeated Democrat Trisha Calvarese to succeed RepublicanKen Buck, who resigned on March 22, 2024, due to dissatisfaction with the current Congress.[82] The district has a partisan index of R+13.[78]
Partisan control of state governments following the 2024 elections:
Democratic trifecta maintained
Republican trifecta maintained
Divided government established
Divided government maintained
Officially non-partisan, unicameral legislature
Republicans made minor gains in state elections in 2024. They broke two Democratictrifectas, one in Michigan and the other in Minnesota, made minor legislative gains across the country, and flipped three major statewide offices.
Most legislative chambers held regularly scheduled elections in 2024. The exceptions are theMichigan Senate,Minnesota Senate, and both legislative chambers in the states of Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia. In chambers that usestaggered terms, only a portion of the seats in the chamber were up for election.
InPueblo, Colorado, a runoff of the 2023 election was held in January, resulting in city councilor Heather Graham defeating mayor Nick Gradisar in his bid for re-election.[116] InAnchorage, Alaska, incumbent mayorDave Bronson lost re-election to a second three-year term against independentSuzanne LaFrance.[117] InSan Francisco, California, philanthropistDaniel Lurie defeated incumbent mayorLondon Breed in aranked-choice vote, the first election in the city to coincide with a presidential election.[118][119] Nearby inOakland, mayorSheng Thao was ousted in arecall election two years into her term, the first mayor in the city's history to be recalled; aspecial election was held in 2025 and resulted inBarbara Lee being elected to complete the remainder of Thao's term.[120] InScottsdale, Arizona,mayor Dave Ortega lost re-election to attorney Lisa Borowsky in a rematch of the 2020 election.[121] InFayetteville, Arkansas, longtime mayor Lioneld Jordan lost a runoff election against Molly Rawn, the city's tourism director.[122] InBaton Rouge, Louisiana,Sid Edwards was elected as the first Republican mayor-president of the city-parish since 2004, defeating incumbentSharon Weston Broome in her bid for a third term.[123]
In March, theApache Tribe of Oklahoma reelected Durell Cooper III as tribal chairman and Matthew Tselee as vice-chairman. Dustin Cozad was elected Apache Treasurer and Donald Komardley and Amber Achilta were elected to the tribe's business committee. ThePeoria Tribe of Oklahoma elected Jason Dollarhide as treasurer, Carolyn Ritchey to the business committee, and Stacy Lindsly to the grievance committee.[131]
In April,Lisa Goree was elected chair of theShinnecock Nation on Long Island. She is the first woman to lead the tribe since 1792.[132]
In May, Forrest Tahdooahnippah was elected as chair of theComanche Nation, replacing Mark Woommavovah who declined to run for reelection after being censured for his approval of a refinery project on tribal land; Diana Doyebi-Sovo was elected vice-chair. TheOttawa Tribe of Oklahoma elected Mikal Scott-Werner second chief, Kallista Keah as secretary-treasurer, Cody Hollenbeck first councilman, and Rachel Marie Yeakley to the tribe's grievance committee.[133] The Wasco, part of theConfederated Tribes of Warm Springs, elected Jefferson Greene chief in a special election.[134] Michael Q. Primus II, Ben Lucero Wolf, Tiya "Tanequodle" Rosario, and Warren Quetone were elected to theKiowa Tribe's legislature.[135] TheShoshone-Bannock Tribes in Idaho elected Lee Juan Tyler as chair of the Fort Hall Business Council.[136]
In July, theChickasaw Nation reelected David Woerz, Toby Perkins, Nancy Elliott, Shana Tate Darter, and Scott Wood to the tribe's legislature and Linda English Weeks to the tribe's supreme court.[139] Matthew Wesaw was reelected to a fourth term as chair of thePokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians tribal council.[142]
In August, Kathleen Wooden Knife won an open-seat race to become the first woman elected President of theRosebud Sioux Tribe.[143]
In November, Gene Small was elected President of theNorthern Cheyenne Tribe, narrowly defeating incumbent Serena Wetherelt; Ernest Littlemouth Sr. was elected vice President. TheCrow Tribe reelected Frank White Clay as tribal chair;Chippewa Cree Business Committee Chair Harlan Baker was also reelected.[146]
In January, three proposedCheyenne and Arapaho Tribes constitutional amendments failed after only 11.3% of voters returned ballots, short of the 30% voter turnout required for constitutional amendments to pass by the tribe's constitution.[147]
In June, theCherokee Nation rejected a referendum calling for a constitutional convention to amend or replace the tribe's constitution by a margin of 69.5% to 30.5%.[148] Also in June, theOsage Nation voters approved 76.9% to 23.1% a constitutional amendment allowing the Osage Congress to reject executive appointees during a special session.[138] AKiowa Tribe referendum scheduled for June that would have raised citizens'blood quantum was cancelled.[135] A measure to approve opening of a retail cannabis dispensary on theConfederated Tribes of Warm Springs reservation was not approved due to low voter turnout; the measure received approval from a majority of voters, but it required the approval of one-third of all eligible voters.[149]
In July,Seneca Nation voters rejected a referendum to establish a tribal police department.[150]
In October, theYurok Tribe voted in favor of removingblood quantum requirements for membership with a descent-based tribal membership in an advisory referendum. The Yurok tribal council will decide whether or not to amend membership requirements in the tribe's constitution.[151]
This table shows the partisan results of presidential, congressional, gubernatorial, and state legislative races held in each state and territory in 2024. Note that not all states and territories hold gubernatorial, state legislative, and Senate elections in 2024. The fiveterritories andWashington, D.C., do not elect members of the Senate, and the territories do not take part in presidential elections; instead, they each elect onenon-voting member of the House. Nebraska'sunicamerallegislature and thegovernorship andlegislature of American Samoa are elected on anon-partisan basis, and political party affiliation is not listed.
On July 13, 2024, during an outdoor campaign rally inButler, Pennsylvania,Donald Trump was shot ina failed assassination attempt. Trump was shot in the upper right ear, while one rally attendee was killed and two others were critically injured.[156] This marked the first time a current or former US president had been shot since then-PresidentRonald Reagan was shot onMarch 30, 1981, the first time a presidential candidate was shot on the campaign trail since the shooting of Democratic presidential candidateGeorge Wallace on May 15, 1972,[157] and the first time a former president had been shot since the shooting of PresidentTheodore Roosevelt onOctober 14, 1912 (who, similar to Donald Trump, was a former Republican president running for a non-consecutive term when he was shot, though Theodore Roosevelt was seeking a non-consecutive 3rd term as a3rd party candidate after previously choosing not to run as a Republican in the1908 election cycle).
On September 15, 2024, Trump's security detail spotted an armed man while the former president was touring his golf course inWest Palm Beach, Florida. They opened fire on the suspect, who fled in a vehicle and was later captured thanks to the contribution of an eyewitness. In the location where the suspect was spotted, the police retrieved a modified SKS rifle with a scope, two rucksacks and a GoPro in what was called by the FBI asecond assassination attempt.[158]
On November 4, 2024, awhite supremacist was arrested for plotting an attack on anelectrical substation in Nashville, Tennessee.[162] On November 5, a man was arrested at the U.S. Capitol under suspicion of an attempted arson attack.[163][164]
Several foreign nations reportedly interfered in the 2024 United States elections, includingChina,Iran, andRussia. The efforts largely focused onpropaganda anddisinformation campaigns using inauthentic accounts on social media, stoking domestic divisions, and denigrating the United States and democracy more broadly.[165][166][167]
In response to the surge of misinformation, U.S. authorities imposed sanctions on entities linked to foreign disinformation campaigns. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the Moscow-based Center for Geopolitical Expertise, accusing it of creating and disseminating AI-generated deepfake videos to manipulate American voters.[168]
^One of Arizona's senators,Mark Kelly, is a Democrat. The other senator from Arizona,Kyrsten Sinema, was elected as a Democrat but registered as an Independent in December 2022.
^Three of Maine's electoral votes were called for Biden, while one of its electoral votes was called for Trump.
^abOne of Maine's senators,Susan Collins, is a Republican. The other senator from Maine,Angus King, is an independent who has caucused with Democrats since taking office in 2013.
^Three of Maine's electoral votes were called for Harris, while one of its electoral votes was called for Trump.
^Four of Nebraska's electoral votes were called for Trump, while one of its electoral votes was called for Biden.
^abThough a majority of its members identify as Republicans, the unicameralNebraska Legislature is officially nonpartisan.
^Four of Nebraska's electoral votes were called for Trump, while one of its electoral votes was called for Harris.
^abOne of Vermont's senators,Peter Welch, is a Democrat. The other senator from Vermont,Bernie Sanders, was elected as an independent and has caucused with Democrats since taking office in 2007.
^One of West Virginia's senators,Shelley Moore Capito, is a Republican. The other senator from West Virginia,Joe Manchin, was elected as a Democrat but registered as an Independent in May 2024.
^Although elections for governor of American Samoa are non-partisan, GovernorLemanu Peleti Mauga affiliates with the Democratic Party.
^Although elections for governor of American Samoa are non-partisan, Governor-electPula Nikolao Pula affiliates with the Republican Party.
^Although Guam does not have a vote in theElectoral College, the territory has held a presidential advisory vote for every presidential election since 1980, and continued this tradition in2024.
^Palacios switched his party affiliation from Independent to the Republican Party in December 2024, while in office.[155]
^Puerto Rican GovernorPedro Pierluisi is a member of the Puerto Rican New Progressive Party, but affiliates with the Democratic Party at the national level.
^abPuerto Rico'sJenniffer González is a member of the New Progressive Party, but affiliates with the Republican Party at the national level.
^Although Puerto Rico does not have a vote in theElectoral College, the territory held a presidential advisory vote in2024.
^Puerto Rico'sPablo Hernández Rivera is a member of the Popular Democratic Party, but affiliates with the Democratic Party at the national level.
^Yourish, Karen; Smart, Charlie (May 24, 2024)."Trump's Pattern of Sowing Election Doubt Intensifies in 2024".The New York Times.Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. RetrievedMay 25, 2024.Former President Donald J. Trump has baselessly and publicly cast doubt about the fairness of the 2024 election about once a day, on average, since he announced his candidacy for president, according to an analysis byThe New York Times ... This rhetorical strategy—heads, I win; tails, you cheated—is a beloved one for Mr. Trump that predates even his time as a presidential candidate ... Long before announcing his candidacy, Mr. Trump and his supporters had been falsely claiming that President Biden was 'weaponizing' the Justice Department to target him.
^Gamio, Lazaro; Yourish, Karen; Haag, Matthew; Bromwich, Jonah E.; Haberman, Maggie; Lai, K.K. Rebecca (May 30, 2024)."The Trump Manhattan Criminal Verdict, Count By Count".The New York Times.Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. RetrievedMay 30, 2024.
^Yourish, Karen; Smart, Charlie (May 24, 2024)."Trump's Pattern of Sowing Election Doubt Intensifies in 2024".The New York Times.Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. RetrievedMay 25, 2024.Former President Donald J. Trump has baselessly and publicly cast doubt about the fairness of the 2024 election about once a day, on average, since he announced his candidacy for president, according to an analysis byThe New York Times ... This rhetorical strategy—heads, I win; tails, you cheated—is a beloved one for Mr. Trump that predates even his time as a presidential candidate ... Long before announcing his candidacy, Mr. Trump and his supporters had been falsely claiming that President Biden was 'weaponizing' the Justice Department to target him.
^abEdsall, Thomas B. (April 12, 2023)."How The Right Came To Embrace Intrusive Government".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. RetrievedApril 12, 2023.Republicans in states across the country are defiantly pushing for the criminalization of abortion — of the procedure, of abortifacient drugs and of those who travel out of state to terminate pregnancy... According to research provided to The Times by the Kaiser Family Foundation, states that have abortion bans at various early stages of pregnancy with no exception for rape or incest include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
^Walker, Amy Schoenfeld (January 21, 2023)."Most Abortion Bans Include Exceptions. In Practice, Few Are Granted".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archived from the original on June 28, 2024. RetrievedApril 13, 2023....But in the months since the court's decision, very few exceptions to these new abortion bans have been granted, a New York Times review of available state data and interviews with dozens of physicians, advocates and lawmakers revealed. Instead, those with means are traveling to states where abortion is still broadly legal or are obtaining abortion pills at home because the requirements to qualify for exceptions are too steep. Doctors and hospitals are turning away patients, saying that ambiguous laws and the threat of criminal penalties make them unwilling to test the rules.
^Romancito, Rick (January 17, 2024)."Pueblos announce new leadership".Taos News. Taos, New Mexico.Archived from the original on February 3, 2024. RetrievedOctober 14, 2024.
