WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� A disaffected electorate wanted former President to return to the White House, a blatant rejection of Vice President and her nearly four years with President Joe Biden.
The Republican鈥檚 victory came from a public so put off by America鈥檚 trajectory that they welcomed his brash and disruptive approach. About 3 in 10 voters said they wanted total upheaval in how the country is run, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide. Even if they weren鈥檛 looking for something that dramatic, more than half of voters overall said they wanted to see substantial change.
Both nationwide and in key battleground states, the Republican won over voters who were alarmed about the and prioritized more aggressive enforcement of Those issues largely overshadowed many voters鈥� focus on the future of democracy and abortion protections 鈥� key priorities for Harris鈥� voters, but not enough to turn the election in her favor.
Trump鈥檚 victory, however, wasn鈥檛 a total mandate. Even as Trump prevailed in the electoral college, there were concerns about how he could wield his power. Most voters said they were very or somewhat concerned that electing Trump would bring the U.S. closer to being an authoritarian country, where a single leader has unchecked power. Still, more than 1 in 10 of those voters backed him.
Voters gave Trump the edge on their top concern: the economy
Anxiety about inflation was high nationally, and voters broadly believed that Trump would be better equipped than Harris to handle the economy and jobs. The key swing states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin largely mirrored the mood of the nation.
The share of voters who said their family鈥檚 financial situation was 鈥渇alling behind鈥� rose to about 3 in 10, up from roughly 2 in 10 in the last presidential election. Many voters were still reeling from inflation that . About 9 in 10 voters were very or somewhat concerned about the cost of groceries, and about 8 in 10 were concerned about their health care costs, their housing costs or the cost of gas.
Trump eroded Democrats鈥� traditional advantage among key groups
Trump picked up a small but significant share of younger voters, Black voters and Hispanic voters, many of whom were feeling down about the economy. Majorities of younger Black voters and Latino voters said the economy is not working well.
The economy carried more prominence than in the 2020 election, including for these groups. Four years ago, COVID-19 and racism were important issues for Black and Latino voters. But this time, they were more focused on the economy, and Trump managed to make inroads with both groups even as the majority stayed with Harris.
Among voters under 30, slightly less than half went for Trump, an improvement from his 2020 performance. About three-quarters of young voters said the country was headed in the wrong direction, and roughly one-third said they wanted complete and total upheaval to how the country is run.
There was also a divide between young men and women on which candidate they backed. About 6 in 10 women between 18 to 29 voted for Harris, and more than half of men in that age group backed Trump.
Tough immigration policies were more popular, particularly in swing states
Voters were more likely to embrace hardline immigration policies than they were four years ago, which aligned with .
About 4 in 10 voters said that immigrants living in the U.S. illegally should be deported to the country they came from, up from about 3 in 10 in 2020. And while most voters said that immigrants living in the U.S. illegally should be offered a chance to apply for legal status, that was down from 2020.
Trump has seized on an increase in illegal crossings at the U.S. border with Mexico as a driver of crime and Haitian immigrants in Ohio of eating dogs and cats. That position may have echoed in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin 鈥� three states far from the southern border whereabout 8 in 10 Trump voters said they supported deportation over a chance to apply for legal status.
A more isolationist electorate
Trump鈥檚 return to the White House will likely challenge the established global order, as he has to defend fellow NATO counties and on allies as well as competitors. Voters were more likely than in 2020 to adopt many of Trump鈥檚 isolationist stances. About 4 in 10 voters wanted the U.S. to take a 鈥渓ess active role鈥� in solving the world鈥檚 problems, up from about 3 in 10 in 2020.
Most of Trump鈥檚 supporters opposed continuing aid to Ukraine in the war against Russia, undoing a Biden administration policy that had . But there were limits to their isolationist stance: A majority of Trump voters separately favored continuing aiding Israel in its war against Hamas and Hezbollah.
Trump is not a unifier, but some voters didn鈥檛 see his flaws as dealbreakers
Some of Trump's voters acknowledged his flaws even as they chose to send him back to Washington.
Nearly half of voters said they were 鈥渧ery concerned鈥� that another Trump presidency would bring the U.S. closer to authoritarianism. Roughly 1 in 10 in this group voted for him anyway. About 6 in 10 voters said he is not honest and trustworthy, but about 2 in 10 in this group backed him. A majority of voters said he does not have the moral character to be president, and about 1 in 10 of those voters supported him.
For all his promises, Trump will likely find it challenging to endow the nation as a whole with a new sense of unity and optimism. Asked if he would bring positive change, voters were about evenly split.
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AP Polling Editor Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux and AP reporter Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report.
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AP VoteCast is a survey of the American electorate conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for Fox News, PBS NewsHour, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press. The survey of more than 120,000 voters was conducted for eight days, concluding as polls closed. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. The survey combines a random sample of registered voters drawn from state voter files; self-identified registered voters using NORC鈥檚 probability based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population; and self-identified registered voters selected from nonprobability online panels. The margin of sampling error for voters is estimated to be plus or minus 0.4 percentage points. Find more details about APVoteCast鈥檚 methodology at https://ap.org/votecast.
Josh Boak And Linley Sanders, The Associated Press
