Donald Trump Made Gains With Poorer Voters

Trump has become the champion of the working class.

According to an analysis by the Financial Times, Donald Trump’s historic victory against Kamala Harris on November 5, 2024 was buttressed by strong support from America’s working class, which is made up of voters of humbler economic means and lack of a college education. 

Democrats are now more reliant on high-income earners, as opposed to the low-income earners that buttressed the New Deal, Clintona era, and Obama era coalitions. 

Per the Financial Times, the majority of voters making less than $50,000 annually voted for Trump in 2024. By contrast, the majority of voters earning $100,000 annually are pulling the lever for Harris.  

Prior to the election, the majority of voters viewed immigration as the most critical issue facing the United States, with 55% indicating that mass migration was a “critical threat” to the nation. 

Trump made significant gains in the American Southwest, in areas inhabited by Foundational Hispanic Americans, whose ancestors likely settled that part of the country centuries ago before the foundation of the American Republic. For example, Trump made notable progress in Hidalgo and Zapata counties in Texas and Santa Cruz County in Arizona.

In Texas, Trump flipped four counties on the US-Mexico border that had traditionally pulled the lever for Democratic presidential candidates since the 1970s.

Trump was able to flip several suburbs, while eroding Democrats’ advantages in cities. In 2020, Biden had strong performances in suburbs in states such as Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania that contributed to his victories in those states.

However, Trump obtained more votes than Harris in virtually every region outside large cities, which includes the suburbs. In major metro areas, Democrats lost over 1 million votes compared to 2020, per the Financial Times. 

Trump made significant improvements with the Hispanic segment of the voter population. According to exit polling from the Associated Press, Trump picked up 42% of the Hispanic vote, the highest percentage of the Hispanic vote a Republican has obtained in the modern era. The president-elect was able to flip the majority-Hispanic Miami-Dade County for the first time since 1988 by a resounding 55% to 44% margin. 

Trump has forever changed the Republican Party. But the fight is only just beginning. Trump’s America First base must continue holding him and all other Republicans in Congress accountable. Grassroots pressure will ensure that Trump and the GOP stick to the America First agenda of immigration restriction, a restrained foreign policy, and economic nationalism.