2024 United States presidential election



The 2024 United States presidential election was the 60th quadrennial United States presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. The Republican Party ticket of former United States Ambassador to the United Nations and former Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley, and U.S. Representative from Michigan Bill Huizenga defeated the incumbent Democratic ticket of President Kamala Harris and Vice President Gretchen Whitmer.

Nikki Haley won the Republican primary in a closely fought contest with Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis, who had Donald Trump's endorsement, as well as former Vice President Mike Pence, who ran on a Christian conservative platform. Kamala Harris became president after the death of Joe Biden on October 27th, 2022, and appointed Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, as her Vice President soon after.

Nikki Haley narrowly won the Electoral College by flipping the states of Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, winning all four by under a 1.5% margin each. Wisconsin and Pennsylvania were especially close (within half a percentage point each,) and if Kamala Harris had won them, she would have been re-elected president.

Harris was the first candidate since 1876 to win an outright majority of the popular vote while still losing the Electoral College, and the sixth to lose the Electoral College while winning a plurality of the popular vote.

Nikki Haley was inaugurated as the 48th President of the United States on January 20, 2025, and Bill Huizenga was inaugurated as the 51st Vice President of the United States on the same day.

General election campaign
Kamala Harris was initially seen as having a major advantage, due to the positive reception of the late President Joe Biden's COVID-19 response and the smooth transition of power from the Biden administration to the Harris administration after his death. In early 2023, there were several polls that showed Harris with a nearly 20-point-lead nationwide over the potential Republican candidates. However, Harris' approval rating began to dip after an unpopular bombing that killed 22 innocent civilians in Iraq, that the Republicans heavily utilized in advertising. However, Harris remained in a decent position throughout the rest of the election season, and Haley's victory was widely seen as an upset, especially considering the nearly 4% margin of victory Harris had in the popular vote.

Close states
Margin of victory less than 1% (60 electoral votes):
 * 1) Pennsylvania, 0.34%
 * 2) Wisconsin, 0.48% (Tipping-point state)
 * 3) Florida, 0.98%

Margin of victory less than 5% (111 electoral votes):
 * 1) Arizona, 1.22%
 * 2) Michigan, 1.25%
 * 3) Nevada, 1.36%
 * 4) Georgia, 1.44%
 * 5) Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, 2.34%
 * 6) North Carolina, 2.85%
 * 7) New Hampshire, 3.89%
 * 8) Texas, 4.77%

Margin of victory between 5% and 10% (61 electoral votes):
 * 1) Iowa, 5.65%
 * 2) Maine, 6.03%
 * 3) Minnesota, 6.05%
 * 4) Ohio, 6.48%
 * 5) Maine's 2nd congressional district, 6.90%
 * 6) Alaska, 8.48%
 * 7) Colorado, 8.54%
 * 8) Virginia, 9.72%