US Presidential Election 2024 is here and voting is set to begin in a matter of few hours. As millions of Americans head to polling booths to choose between Donald Trump (Republican Party) and Kamala Harris (Democratic Party), the guessing game is on over who will take the Oval Office and become the next President of the United States. A term that’s often being hurled around these days is ‘swing states’. What are swing states? Just how do they swing? What does the swing mean for a presidential candidate? We decode it here for you.
The ‘Red States’ and ‘Blue States’
To understand ‘swing states’ we must know what are red states and blue states.
It’s pretty simple.
The Republican Party, which is being represented by Donald Trump, is generally associated with the colour red.
The Democratic Party, being represented by Kamala Harris, is generally associated with the colour blue.
Like any other political party, these American ones have their strongholds, their bastions in the US. The states considered to be a Democratic Party stronghold is often called ‘blue states’ (after colour the party is associated with).
Similarly, Republican Party bastions are called ‘red states’.
Some of the blue states are: New York, Illinois, California among others.
Some of the red states are: Texas, Wyoming, Alabama and more.
It broadly held that red states are the ones where voters prefer conservative values and minimum interference from government.
Similarly, it is considered that voters in blue states put more stock in progressive politics and social justice. It is often seen that blue states tend to have major urban centres of the country where liberal thought is more prevalent.
Back To The Point: What Are Swing States?
Blue and red states have a general trend of voting for a particular party and although there have been deviations from this norm in past, the particular party has been able to retain the state.
Swing states are those which have voted for both parties in past and are not exactly considered a bastion of a particular one. In other words, these states can go either way, Republican or Democratic.
How Many Swing States Are There In The US?
It is considered that seven states in the country are swing states. These are: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin.
What Is The Political Significance Of Swing States?
Swing states are politically very important as electoral votes in these states are considered to be up for grabs. The candidate securing 270 votes gets the key of the White House. Out of these, the swing states will contribute 93.
Also, both parties are somewhat comfortable about their strongholds and although they take great care to retain them, it is often seen that more money is spent on campaigning in swing states.
The result in swing states literally has the potential to swing the result of US Presidential Election 2024.
