Politics is basically a game of "what if" until the actual numbers drop. For months, everyone was staring at those tiny shifting needles on the news. Honestly, it was exhausting. But once the dust settled in the late hours of November 2024, the map looked a lot different than it did four years ago.
So, let's get into it. Donald Trump won 31 states in the 2024 presidential election.
That’s a jump from 2020. Back then, he took 25 states. This time around, he managed to flip the script in several key areas that had previously gone blue. If you’re looking at the Electoral College, the final tally was 312 for Trump and 226 for Kamala Harris. He didn't just win; he swept every single one of the seven major battleground states.
The States That Made the Difference
It wasn't just about holding onto the "Red Wall." To get to 312, you've gotta take some territory back. Trump won Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—all of which had voted for Joe Biden in 2020.
North Carolina also stayed in his column.
Pennsylvania was the big one. Everyone knew it. With its 19 electoral votes, it was the "must-have" on everyone's bingo card. When the networks finally called the Keystone State, the path for Harris basically vanished. It's kinda wild how one state can carry that much weight, but that's the system we've got.
A Breakdown of the "Red" Map
Trump’s victory wasn't just a narrow squeeze. He won by double digits in places like West Virginia and Wyoming. In fact, Wyoming gave him his biggest margin, with over 72% of the vote.
📖 Related: Whos Winning The Election Rn Polls: The January 2026 Reality Check
Here is the list of states that voted for Trump:
- The Deep South & Appalachia: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia.
- The Midwest & Plains: Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska (statewide), North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin.
- The West & Mountain States: Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming.
- The "Big One": Texas.
Texas is interesting because there's always talk about it "turning blue" eventually. But in 2024? Not even close. Trump won it by about 14 points. Florida has also shifted from being the ultimate swing state to being pretty comfortably Republican. He won Florida by 13 points this time. That’s a massive change from the "hanging chad" days of the past.
The "Swing State" Sweep
Winning 31 states is impressive, but winning all seven battlegrounds is what really shocked the pundits.
Nevada was a big surprise for some. It hadn't gone for a Republican since 2004 when George W. Bush was on the ticket. Trump broke that 20-year streak. Arizona also flipped back after a very narrow loss in 2020.
The "Blue Wall"—Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—all crumbled at once.
Why? Exit polls suggest a lot of it came down to the economy and inflation. People were feeling the squeeze at the grocery store. It turns out, that matters a lot more to the average voter than high-level political theory.
👉 See also: Who Has Trump Pardoned So Far: What Really Happened with the 47th President's List
Beyond Just the States
We should probably talk about the popular vote, too. Usually, Republicans win the Electoral College but lose the popular vote. 2024 was different.
Trump actually won the popular vote by about 2 million. He finished with roughly 77.3 million votes compared to 75 million for Harris. It’s the first time a Republican has won the popular vote since 2004.
The Nuance of Maine and Nebraska
Now, if you want to be a real election nerd, you have to look at Maine and Nebraska. They don’t do "winner-take-all" for their electoral votes.
In Nebraska, Trump won the state and two of its congressional districts. But he lost the 2nd District (the Omaha area) to Harris.
In Maine, it was the opposite. Harris won the state and one district, but Trump grabbed the 2nd Congressional District. So even though he won 31 states, the electoral math is slightly more fragmented because of these two.
What This Means for the Future
The map didn't just change; it shifted. We saw shifts in demographics that people didn't expect. Trump made huge gains with Latino voters, especially in places like the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and parts of Florida.
✨ Don't miss: Why the 2013 Moore Oklahoma Tornado Changed Everything We Knew About Survival
He also improved his numbers in urban areas that are usually deep blue. He didn't win New York or Illinois, obviously, but the margins there got a lot tighter than they used to be.
So, what's next?
If you're trying to keep track of how these numbers impact the next few years, keep an eye on the 2026 midterms. Democrats are already looking at states Trump won by double digits—like Ohio and Iowa—to see if they can claw back some Senate seats. But given how the map looks right now, it’s an uphill climb.
Actionable Steps to Take Now:
- Check the Official Archives: If you want the raw, certified data for your own records, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the National Archives provide the finalized electoral tallies.
- Look at County-Level Data: To see why a state went red, look at the "shift" maps. Sites like Cook Political Report show exactly which counties moved right compared to 2020.
- Monitor the 2026 Map: Start tracking the Senate seats up for re-election in the states Trump flipped. Those will be the primary battlegrounds for the next two years.
The 2024 map is a snapshot of a country in transition. Whether it stays this way or swings back in 2028 is anyone's guess, but for now, the "31 states" figure is the defining stat of the current political era.