Trump Proves New York City Isn’t As Blue As It Used to Be
In his election victory over Kamala Harris, Donald Trump won all of the most important swing states. But he also exceeded his 2020 vote totals almost everywhere else, including in deep-blue areas of the country.
One place where he made particularly stark gains was New York. The reliably blue state was quickly called for Harris. But the vice-president took it by only 12 points, 55 percent to Trump’s 43 percent. By contrast, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton received around 60 percent of the vote in 2020 and 2016.
New York City was a big reason for that slippage. Results from the state Board of Elections show Trump pulling double digits throughout New York City, including approximately 37 percent in Queens and about 27 percent in the Bronx, two boroughs with significant Black and Latino populations. In Manhattan, Trump secured 17 percent of the vote.
Trump’s growth in the state seems to be an indication of his increasing support among minority voters. An NBC News exit poll showed Trump with support from 45 percent of Latino voters nationally, a stark shift from 2020 when he lost Latino voters by 33 percent. The incoming president also made an effort to campaign in the city, holding rallies in the Bronx and at Madison Square Garden.
Despite Trump’s progress in New York, Democrats managed to flip three Republican House seats while defending several incumbents. Representatives Tom Suozzi and Pat Ryan will be returning to the chamber next year after winning reelections in the state’s Third and 18th Districts. They will be joined by three new colleagues: Laura Gillen, John Mannion, and Josh Riley, who defeated Republican incumbents Anthony D’Esposito, Brandon Williams, and Marc Molinaro.
Things weren’t any better for Harris across the Hudson. New Jersey, a traditionally blue state, was, incredibly, competitive this year with Harris receiving about 52 percent to Trump’s 47 percent, a slim five-point difference that would have seemed like little more than a dream for past Republican candidates. He increased his margin from 2020, when Trump lost the state to Biden by about 16 points. What’s yet unclear is whether these increases are simply unique to Trump or are an indicators of a changing electoral path for Republicans in the future.