The US Capitol Building is shown on December 21 in Washington, DC.
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This has been a big year for politics. Citing concerns about prices and immigration, Donald Trump will return to the White House after winning the 2024 presidential election, the first president to win non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in the 19th century.
He survived an assassination attempt, a second attempt was thwarted by the Secret Service, and President Biden dropped out of the race late in the campaign.
Here are some of the numbers that defined this wild year in American politics:
155 million
more than 155 million people cast their votes In the 2024 presidential election. It is only the second in US history after the 2020 election. The turnout in 2024 represents 63.9% of eligible votersthe second highest percentage in the past 100 years, according to University of Florida Elections Laboratory. The only year it beat it – again – was 2020 when universal mail-in voting was more widely available.
71%
Share of the electorate made up of white voters. This may be the most important number in the election because it represents an increase in the white share of the electorate, which has not happened since 1992. White voters have been in steady decline since the turn of the century, with the number of white voters increasing. Latinos and AAPI voters, so the reversal of that in this election is striking and a big reason why Trump won. Much of this additional boost came from white voters without college degrees, who rose 4 points as a share of the electorate and went two-thirds for Trump.
An electronic billboard displays a political ad titled “Americans for Trump” in Easton, Pennsylvania, on November 1.
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46%
Percentage of Latinos who won for Trump. It’s the highest support any Republican has ever received from Latinos despite Trump’s rhetoric denigrating immigrants. Trump saw a 28-point shift in his favor among Latinos, mostly due to Latino men, with whom Trump gained 41 points.
$1.2 billion
The amount of money spent on political ads in Pennsylvania is for all political races, including $620 million for the presidential election alone, according to AdImpact. No country has ever seen more than $1 billion in advertising spending.
49.8%
Trump’s popular vote percentage. This is not a “strong and unprecedented mandate” as Trump claimed, but presidents often overread their electoral victories — and how much political capital they have.
38%
Average President Biden Approval rating Right before Election Day. It is difficult for the ruling party to do well when the popularity of its current leader is so low. His age, 81, also played a large role in determining whether he could win re-election or even stay in the race. Ultimately, he was unable to do so, and his chosen successor, Vice President Harris, lost as well.
US President Biden speaks on the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on August 19.
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Andrew Caballero Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
7,309
The number of votes that decided to control the House of Representatives increased in narrow areas in the states of Iowa, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. Despite Trump’s victory in the White House, the Republicans retaining the House of Representatives and their turnover in the Senate, the Republican Party will only have a small majority that could make governance a challenge for the next administration.
76%
The percentage of people who say their personal financial situation is either worse or the same as it was four years ago, according to polls. It is difficult for the incumbent party to win when views of the economy are so negative and personal.
2.1 million
number Migrant encounters on the southwest border in fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 to September 2024). That was actually lower than in 2022 and 2023, but the narrative that the Biden administration did not do enough to stop the border crossings — and that it was slow to respond — stuck with many voters.
23 million
the Approximate number of women Living in states with restrictive abortion laws, or 1 in 3 women of reproductive age in the country.
1500
Biden’s one-day pardon is the most ever. Biden also commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 men on federal death row. These clemency acts broke records, but the controversy came with Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter Biden. Many Democrats were angered by Biden’s statement that political pressure played a role in the investigations, undermining the integrity of the Justice Department.
Voters fill out their ballots at a New York City polling station on Election Day, November 5.
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17
The number of points voters making less than $100,000 a year shifted for Trump. The country is experiencing a political realignment, with working-class voters moving more toward Republicans, and wealthier, more educated voters moving toward Democrats. Four years ago, Biden won voters who earn less than $100,000 a year, 56%-43%, but Trump won them 51%-47% in the presidential election. This election. On the other hand, in 2020, Trump won those making $100,000 a year by 12 points four years ago, and Harris won them this time by four points.
88
The number of criminal charges Trump faces is among the four criminal cases filed against him. 34 were convicted in New York of, among other things, fraudulent business practices. The matter stemmed from the 2016 payment of bribe money to a porn star to cover up an alleged sexual encounter. Trump’s election helped him avoid governance. The other three cases never went to trial due to successful delay efforts by Trump’s lawyers and an ethics scandal in Georgia. After the election, federal prosecutor Jack Smith dropped the two remaining cases — one involving the Jan. 6 Capitol siege, the other involving classified documents. As Trump enters his second term, Trump will have fewer guardrails, as the Supreme Court said the president has immunity from any official acts.
President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak during Turning Point’s annual AmericaFest 2024 in Phoenix on December 22.
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2
Number of assassination attempts on Trump. Images of Trump raising his fist in the air and his ear covered in blood have become a symbol of this year’s campaign.
$277 million
that it An amazing amount Which Elon Musk spent to support Trump and the groups supporting him. The world’s richest man is leading Trump’s effort to cut government spending, which Musk calls Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Musk, who has interests from Tesla to Space X to messaging platform X, has a lot invested in how the government decides to distribute money and regulate.
