Seven states that will decide the US presidency

Washington:

US Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are rapidly approaching their November 5 election showdown, one of the closest contests in modern American history.

And in several critical states that make up the 2024 race, there is little daylight between the contenders with Election Day just a week away.

In accordance with the US Constitution, America’s Founding Fathers established that each of the 50 states would hold its own vote for president.

Under the complex Electoral College system, each state has a certain number of “electors” based on population. Most states have a winner-take-all system, which awards all electors to whoever wins the popular vote.

Because candidates need to win 270 of the 538 electoral votes to win, elections are typically decided in hotly contested “swing states” that traditionally alternate between Republican and Democratic candidates.

There are seven such battlegrounds this year, and each is a toss-up within the margin of error. Here’s a look:

Pennsylvania (19 Electoral College votes)

Pennsylvania was once reliably Democratic, but these days they don’t get much closer than the Keystone State.

Republican Trump won the most populous battleground, with 13 million residents, by 0.7 percentage points in 2016. Joe Biden claimed it with a 1.2 percentage point lead in 2020.

Pennsylvania, known for its Rust Belt cities such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, has suffered a steady decline in its industrial manufacturing base for decades.

Trump and Harris have campaigned multiple times in the eastern state, where the pair held their only presidential debate. Trump, who survived an assassination attempt at a July rally in Pennsylvania, is courting rural whites and warning that migrants are overwhelming small towns.

Harris has touted recent progress in infrastructure, and in Pittsburgh she outlined plans to invest $100 billion in manufacturing, a key issue for state residents.

Georgia (16)

The southeastern state became an election flashpoint late in Trump’s first term, and controversy is simmering.

Prosecutors in Georgia charged Trump with election interference after he called government officials and urged them to “find” enough votes to overturn Biden’s narrow 2020 victory.

But in support of Trump, the case is being put on hold until after the election.

Biden was the first Democrat to win the Peach State since 1992. The demographic changes are likely to benefit Harris, who is courting minority voters across Georgia.

North Carolina (16)

The southeastern state has voted Democratic only once since 1980, but Harris believes things are back in play.

The population, now over 10 million, is growing and becoming more diverse, which benefits Democrats.

Complicating matters for Trump, a scandal involving the state’s Republican gubernatorial candidate has infuriated party officials who fear it could sink Trump in a competitive race.

As in neighboring Georgia, one question is how the destruction from Hurricane Helen, which recently devastated towns in western North Carolina, might affect the vote.

Michigan (15)

Trump flipped Michigan, a former Democratic stronghold, on his way to defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Biden brought him back into the blue column in 2020, supported by union workers and the large black community.

But this time, Harris risks losing the support of the 200,000-strong Arab-American community, which has condemned Biden’s – and by extension her – handling of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Arizona (11)

The Grand Canyon State was among the tightest races of 2020, with Biden winning by just 10,457 votes.

Trump is hoping frustration with the Biden-Harris administration’s immigration policies will swing Arizona, which borders Mexico, back in his favor.

Harris visited the Arizona border in September, vowing to combat migration and work to revive last year’s bipartisan border law, which she said Trump had “dismissed” for political purposes.

Wisconsin (10)

Clinton lost Wisconsin after neglecting the state during the 2016 campaign.

As with Midwestern neighbor Michigan, the situation was different when Trump’s opponent was Biden, who turned a 23,000-vote deficit into a 21,000-vote Democratic lead.

Trump believes it can be won, and his party held its summer national convention there.

While Trump took an early lead against Biden, Harris turned the state’s race into a close contest.

Nevada (6)

The Silver State, with a population of 3.1 million, has not voted Republican since 2004. Conservatives, encouraged by Trump’s performance among Latino voters, are convinced they can flip the script.

Here Trump had a significant advantage over Biden.

But within weeks of becoming the Democratic nominee, Harris, pushing her economic plans to help small businesses and fight inflation, has erased that advantage in the western state, whose largest city, Las Vegas, is dominated by the hospitality industry.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)