After a nail-biting race, the Democratic candidate took an unbeatable lead in Pennsylvania — picking up its 20 Electoral College votes and passing the 270 needed to gain the White House.

3 min readDec 6, 2020

They are in the so-called “blue wall”, a group of northern states that have been steadily Democrat supporting in many recent elections.

It was the switch in 2016 of many voters in those states to supporting Mr Trump that gave him the keys to the White House, with many blue collar voters sold on his America First vision and pledge to revitalise the US steel and coal industries.

In many parts of America’s Rust Belt — in states like Ohio, Indiana and, to some extent, Michigan — Mr Trump’s support held up.

But changes in levels of support in other parts meant Mr Biden was able to take the key states that were enough to see him take the presidency.

The general trend underscores the growing polarisation of US politics and divisions in American society between those with different levels of education and often differing values.

In places like Arizona, the areas with higher levels of education may have made the difference.

Mr Trump held the state in 2016, even though his margin was the smallest since Republican Bob Dole’s loss to President Bill Clinton, but in 2020, the signs are that it might have flipped.

Counties like Pima, which includes Tucson and the University of Arizona, saw a significant rise in Democrat support among college educated voters.

The county has seen an influx in recent years of better-educated Americans, attracted to a growing economy, higher tech industries and lured away from states like California by lower prices.

Thirty-two percent of county inhabitants now have degrees — the same as the US national average. Pima is 92% urban.

In several of the swing states, indications are that Joe Biden saw an increased vote share, compared to that of Hillary Clinton in 2016, among those living in urban areas.

Urban areas sometimes have higher proportions of college-educated voters and people from minorities — groups that tended to support Mrs Clinton previously, but Mr Biden saw more of them support him this time in states such as Georgia, Minnesota and North Carolina.

here was anecdotal evidence before the election that some elderly people were considering switching their vote to Democrat — and to a man who could himself be the oldest president in history — because they were keen to leave a legacy for their grandchildren.

The elderly, thousands of whom have died this year in the US from coronavirus, may have also been more worried about the pandemic and voted for a candidate who pledged to take it more seriously.

THowever, this did not occur across the board, and in many of the states where Mr Trump did well in 2016, especially in the north, there were signs that older voters backed him in greater numbers, despite the high levels of COVID-19 infection.

Even in states like Ohio and Iowa, which Mr Biden lost, Democrat support was up in urban areas.

After a nail-biting race, the Democratic candidate took an unbeatable lead in Pennsylvania — picking up its 20 Electoral College votes and passing the 270 needed to gain the White House.

Written by Indexpagol