It’s official: Donald J. Trump is projected to become the 47th President of the United States, making him the first since Grover Cleveland to serve non-consecutive terms. This victory is monumental, not only for what it signifies—a return to the White House against all odds—but also for how razor-thin the margins truly were. These elections were less a sweeping mandate than a wake-up call.
Black and Latino voters will no longer be ignored or taken for granted. They are a force to be reckoned with.
This massive and growing group of voters made it clear they are willing to shift party loyalty. With 45% of the Latino vote, Trump earned the vote of more Hispanics than any Republican in American history. He also improved with Black voters, gaining 5% more of the Black vote than he did four years ago.
While these numbers might look impressive, a closer look at this victory reveals a more complex reality—one that should be a warning to anyone who thinks 2024 is a final word on where the country stands. If the Republican party doesn’t deliver the goods for these voters, they may very well abandon them either in the midterm elections or four years from now. The party in power must govern from the core values that Americans broadly support, rather than pander to the extremes.
Those values include: safe communities, a respect for our law enforcement, freedom of speech and religion and a strong economy which allows everyone a fair shot at achieving the American Dream. The Harvard Capps/Harris survey from July makes clear Americans overwhelmingly reject the very groups Democrats have embraced in recent years: campus protesters, Antifa, and Hamas.
At Our America, we know that Americans overwhelmingly value hard work, civil discourse, and fair elections. They want to be able to speak their mind and practice their faith without fear of being canceled.
Despite sweeping seven swing states, Trump’s victory came down to the wire in three critical states. Vice President Kamala Harris could have won the presidency if she had only managed to win Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, losing all other swing states and still claiming the White House. This scenario shows just how close we came to a very different outcome, and it raises a clear point—there’s no time for complacency.
Take Michigan, where with 95% of the vote counted, Trump carried out a victory with 49.8%, a margin of about 82,017 ballots. In Pennsylvania, Trump led with 50.5%, a difference of 134,797 votes. And in Wisconsin, Trump held a slim 49.8%, winning by just 33,050 votes. Together, these three states accounted for a mere quarter-million votes—a margin nearly identical to the close race of 2020. While this time the numbers favored Trump, they could just as easily have tipped the other way.
This is the message that needs to sink in: only history will tell if 2024 was a turning point. What we know today is voters rejected extremist views in favor of broadly held values. At Our America we know Latinos and Blacks love this country and believe if given a fair chance, they can succeed.
Democrats are currently doing some soul searching. They have learned important lessons just as Republicans did in 2020 and 2022. They will regroup, and they will do so with even more energy, determination, and resources. For those who are celebrating this victory, know this: now is not the time to get comfortable. If Republicans don’t adopt policies that allow ALL Americans to thrive and prosper, the massive swing in Black and Latino voters could easily swing the other way in four years.
