Election Updates & Candidates

Litzy Lopez reports on the upcoming United States presidential election.

Image Credit: Getty Images

Voting happens on November 5th throughout the United States, and Trump and Biden happen to be in the same situation as in 2020. The 2024 presidential race has already begun, with 15 candidates competing for the nomination. Nine of them are from the Republican Party; four are from the Democratic Party; and two are unaffiliated. Joe Biden has declared that he wants to run again; polls suggest that he will be easily elected. Other candidates are also vying for the nomination, with polls showing that voters in the Republican Party prefer Donald Trump to the other candidates. Non-affiliated candidates are also running for office, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a relative of former President John F. Kennedy, leading the pack.

Mr. Biden’s support among voters under 30 is only one percentage point higher, while his lead among Hispanic voters has decreased to single digits. Additionally, his advantage in urban areas is now only half of Mr. Trump’s advantage in rural areas. Despite women still favoring Mr. Biden, men now favor Mr. Trump by twice as large a margin, reversing the gender advantage that had previously benefited the Democratic Party. This shift is particularly notable among African American voters, with 22 percent now supporting Mr. Trump, a level rarely seen for a Republican candidate in recent times. When considering all these factors, Trump currently holds a 10-point lead in Nevada, six points in Georgia, five points in Arizona and Michigan, and four points in Pennsylvania; Biden maintains a slim 2-point lead in Wisconsin.

The two candidates are competing for electoral votes. The Electoral College assigns a certain number of votes to each state based on its population, totaling 538 votes, and the candidate who reaches 270 or more votes wins the election. Except for two states, all others operate under a winner-take-all system where the candidate who garners the most votes will be given all of the state’s electoral college votes. All eyes are peeled to see what will become of this monumental election.