President-elect Donald Trump not only triumphed over Vice President Kamala Harris in the Electoral College but is also poised to become the first Republican in 20 years to win the popular vote.
As of Wednesday morning, Trump had garnered 70,654,294 votes, while Harris received 66,093,585. His victory marks a significant moment, as he will be sworn in on January 20 and is set to be the first Republican since President George W. Bush, who secured the popular vote in 2004 with 50.7% against Senator John Kerry's 48.3%.
In that election, Bush received 62,040,610 votes and 286 electoral votes, while Kerry obtained 59,028,444 votes and 251 electoral votes, according to the Federal Election Commission. Since then, Democrats have consistently won the popular vote, including in the 2016 election when Trump won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.
Leading up to the 2024 election, prediction markets gave Trump less than a 43% chance of winning the popular vote, as reported by Axios.