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Map shows Trump’s 2024 election victory came as voters shifted red across the country
While the 2024 presidential election was among the closest in recent memory — with President-elect Donald Trump ahead by about 3 percentage points over Vice President Kamala Harris — Trump’s vote share grew in a diverse array of regions across the country and across different demographic groups.
It’s the first time in Trump’s three campaigns for the White House that he’s topped his opponent in the popular vote, and only the second time since 1988 that any Republican has done so. In 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won almost 66 million votes (48%), compared to Trump’s nearly 63 million (46%), but Trump won the Electoral College. In 2020, he lost both the Electoral College and the popular vote to President Biden, who received about 81 million votes (51%) nationwide, compared to Trump’s 74 million (47%).
Trump’s victory in 2024 was driven by improvements in support in a vast majority of counties nationwide — more than 9 in 10 — according to data from counties where at least 95% of votes have been counted as of Friday. Trump’s improvements crossed regions, and included urban, suburban and rural gains.
Trump even fared better in most places where a majority of voters preferred Harris, like New Jersey, or across the Hudson River, in his hometown of New York City.
The Garden State, a longtime Democratic stronghold, swung markedly in Trump’s favor. For instance, the latest data show Trump with a slim 3% lead in suburban Passaic County, where he got just 41% of the vote in 2020.
In New York City, where Trump grew up and spent most of his life before entering politics, he didn’t just surpass his two previous results; his roughly 30% vote share topped every Republican candidate since Ronald Reagan, 40 years ago.
Nearly 2,000 miles away, Maverick County, Texas, a majority Latino border county that Biden carried easily in 2020, swung even more, about 28 points. Trump in 2024 outperformed Biden’s 2020 showing, and Harris fared worse than Trump did in 2020.
CBS News exit polls from the last two elections showed Trump gaining among both men and women this year. In 2020, Trump won men by a hair, 49% to 48%, but in 2024, his campaign’s efforts to woo men appear to have paid off: his support from men grew to 55%.
In 2020, Trump managed to win 43% of women voters. In 2024, despite Democrats’ focus on women voters and abortion access, which boosted them in the midterm election races, Trump still increased his numbers with women, notching up that figure two ticks, to 45%.
Trump made gains among core groups within the traditional Republican coalition, such as evangelical voters. But he also increased his support among groups Democrats have relied on, including young voters and Latino voters, such as those in Maverick County and another former Democratic stronghold, Florida’s Miami-Dade, which Mr. Biden won in 2020, with 53%. This year, Trump carried the county with about 55% of the vote, becoming the first Republican to win there since 1988.
The chart below shows the change in support for Trump in demographic groups between 2020 and 2024.
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Firefighters battling brush fire in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park
NEW YORK — Firefighters are working to knock down a brush fire Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.
The fire was reported just before 7 p.m. Friday. By 8 p.m., the FDNY said it had grown to two alarms.
About 60 fire and EMS personnel responded and are working to bring it under control, and the FDNY says they are using drone technology to identify hot spots, along with specialized brush fire units.
New York City emergency officials say to expect smoke and traffic delays in the area. Residents who live nearby are urged to close their windows.
So far, there are no reported injuries.
It is unclear how the fire started.
New York City under drought watch
New York City is under a drought watch, along with other parts of the state, due to the weeks-long dry stretch across the region. Less than 2 inches of rain has fallen in Central Park since September, and October was the driest month ever recorded in the city.
A Red Flag Warning was also issued for the area Friday, meaning the danger for fire is very high because of a combination of high winds and parched earth. The warning has been extended through 6 p.m. Saturday.
Firefighters in New Jersey have been battling a string of wildfires in recent days, including one that started early Friday morning in the Palisades. That fire sent clouds of smoke across the Hudson River into parts of Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.
Watch CBS News New York at 11 p.m. for the latest on this developing story.
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