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The seven states that will decide the US presidency

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Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1730083305224Image (4).jfif" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">A campaign poster in Washington,DC, which does not have represention in US Congress. File</span></span></span></div><p>WASHINGTON — US Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump are hurtling toward their November 5 election showdown, one of the closest contests in modern American history.</p><p>And in the handful of critical states framing the 2024 race, there is little daylight between the rivals with barely a week before Election Day.</p><p>Under the US Constitution, America&#x27;s founding fathers established that each of the 50 states would hold its own vote for president.</p><p>Under the complex Electoral College system, each state has a certain number of &quot;electors,&quot; based on population. Most states have a winner-take-all system that awards all electors to whoever wins the popular vote.</p><p>With candidates needing 270 of the 538 electoral votes to win, elections tend to be decided in the hotly contested &quot;swing states&quot; with a history of alternating between Republican and Democratic candidates.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/10/27/harris-calls-trump-increasingly-unhinged-at-michigan-rally-1834">• Harris calls Trump &#x27;increasingly unhinged&#x27; at Michigan rally</a></div><p>This year, there are seven such battlegrounds, and every one is a toss-up within the margin of error. Here is a look:</p><div><strong>Pennsylvania (19 Electoral College votes)</strong></div><p>Pennsylvania was once reliably Democratic, but these days, they don&#x27;t come much tighter than the Keystone State.</p><p>Republican Trump won the most populous battleground, with 13 million residents, by 0.7 percentage points in 2016. Joe Biden claimed it by 1.2 percentage points in 2020.</p><p>Known for its &quot;Rust Belt&quot; cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has been blighted for decades by the steady decline of its industrial manufacturing base.</p><p>Trump and Harris have campaigned repeatedly in the eastern state, where the pair held their one and only presidential debate. Trump, who survived an assassination attempt at a July rally in Pennsylvania, is courting the rural white population and warning that migrants are overwhelming small towns.</p><p>Harris is touting recent infrastructure wins, and in Pittsburgh she outlined plans to invest $100 billion in manufacturing, a key issue for state residents.</p><div><strong>Georgia (16)</strong></div><p>This southeastern state was an election flashpoint at the end of Trump&#x27;s first term, and the controversy simmers.</p><p>Prosecutors in Georgia indicted Trump in an election interference case after he called state officials urging them to &quot;find&quot; enough votes to overturn Biden&#x27;s narrow 2020 victory.</p><p>But in a boost for Trump, the case is paused until after the election.</p><p>Biden was the first Democrat to win the Peach State since 1992. Demographic changes are likely to benefit Harris, who has courted minority voters across Georgia.</p><div><strong>North Carolina (16) <br/></strong></div><p>The southeastern state has voted Democratic only once since 1980, but Harris believes it&#x27;s back in play.</p><p>The population, now over 10 million, is expanding and growing more diverse, benefiting Democrats.</p><p>Complicating matters for Trump, a scandal involving the state&#x27;s Republican gubernatorial candidate has infuriated party officials who worry it could sink Trump in a close race.</p><p>As in neighboring Georgia, one wild card is how the devastation from storm Helene, which recently laid waste to towns in western North Carolina, might impact the vote.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/10/27/thousands-turn-out-for-trump-rally-in-madison-square-garden-618">• Thousands turn out for Trump rally in Madison Square Garden</a></div><div><strong>Michigan (15)</strong></div><p>Trump flipped Michigan, a former Democratic stronghold, on his way to defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016.</p><p>Biden returned it to the blue column in 2020, buoyed by unionized workers and a large Black community.</p><p>But this time, Harris risks losing the support of a 200,000-strong Arab-American community that has denounced Biden&#x27;s — and by extension her — handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.</p><div><strong>Arizona (11)</strong></div><p>The Grand Canyon state was among 2020&#x27;s tightest races, with Biden triumphing by just 10,457 votes.</p><p>Trump hopes frustrations over the Biden-Harris administration&#x27;s immigration policy will swing Arizona, which shares a border with Mexico, back in his favor.</p><p>Harris visited Arizona&#x27;s border in September vowing to crack down on migration and work on reviving last year&#x27;s bipartisan border bill, which she said Trump &quot;tanked&quot; for political purposes.</p><div><strong>Wisconsin (10)</strong></div><p>Clinton lost Wisconsin after giving the state a wide berth during the 2016 campaign.</p><p>As with Midwestern neighbor Michigan, it was a different story when Trump&#x27;s opponent was Biden, who turned a 23,000-vote deficit into a winning margin of 21,000 for Democrats.</p><p>Trump considers it winnable, and his party held its summer national convention there.</p><p>While Trump led early against Biden, Harris has made the state race a nailbiter.</p><div><strong>Nevada (6)</strong></div><p>The Silver State, with a population of 3.1 million, hasn&#x27;t voted Republican since 2004. Conservatives, buoyed by Trump&#x27;s headway with Hispanic voters, are convinced they can flip the script.</p><p>Trump held a significant lead here against Biden.</p><p>But within weeks of becoming the Democratic nominee, Harris — promoting her economic plans to help small businesses and combat inflation — has erased that advantage in the western state, whose largest city Las Vegas is dominated by the hospitality industry.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z2ctmqhqTxY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>With candidates needing 270 of the 538 electoral votes to win, elections tend to be decided in the hotly contested "swing states" with a history of alternating between Republican and Democratic candidates.</p>

With candidates needing 270 of the 538 electoral votes to win, elections tend to be decided in the hotly contested "swing states" with a history of alternating between Republican and Democratic candidates.