Republican candidate Donald Trump has successfully returned to the White House for a second term, following the presidency of outgoing leader Joe Biden. However, Trump’s victory carries a significant twist: his path to two terms as U.S. president has come at the expense of women candidates.
In Tuesday’s election, Trump defeated Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, securing a strong win in key battleground states, notably Pennsylvania, which swung back to the Republicans after voting Democratic in 2020.
In 2016, polls favored Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who was widely considered unbeatable. Clinton did win the popular vote by around 2.8 million votes, but lost the presidency due to Trump’s advantage in the Electoral College, where he received 304 votes to Clinton’s 227. Clinton’s defeat marked the first time Trump dashed the aspirations of a woman to take office.
Kamala Harris stood on the brink of making history as the first female U.S. president, but Trump’s renewed campaign thwarted that vision, echoing Clinton’s near miss from eight years ago.
Trump’s victory marks the first time since 1892 that a former president has reclaimed the White House. Should his win be certified, he would be the first president in over a century to return to office after a hiatus, a feat last accomplished by Grover Cleveland, who served as both the 22nd and 24th U.S. president.
The contest between Harris and Trump revealed distinct gender-based support patterns: men were more likely to back Trump, while women leaned toward Harris. This trend was confirmed by exit polls from U.S. media outlets like CNN and ABC News.
Addressing his supporters on Wednesday, Trump said, “We are witnessing a historic moment and the greatest political movement in history. We must make America great again, and we have made history by achieving a political victory unlike any before.”
Trump’s win in Pennsylvania added 19 Electoral College votes, a critical factor in his victory over Harris. He also won Wisconsin, securing 10 electoral votes, and ultimately surpassed the 270-vote threshold with 276 votes, securing the presidency once again.
This marks Trump’s second successful swing of Wisconsin from blue to red. In 2016, he broke through the so-called “blue wall” that had long held Democratic majorities in presidential elections. However, in 2020, he narrowly lost Wisconsin to President Joe Biden.
In the U.S., presidential elections follow an indirect system through the Electoral College, which has 538 votes in total. Each state is allocated a certain number of votes based on its representation in Congress. The candidate who wins the popular vote in a state typically takes all of its Electoral College votes.
The only exceptions are Maine and Nebraska, which allow for a split of electoral votes based on each candidate’s proportion of the popular vote. To win the presidency, a candidate must secure an absolute majority of Electoral College votes, or at least 270.
