logo

The Final Campaign Push: Lots of Stops, But Few States

image
Author: Fair Vote
Created: 02 November, 2016
Updated: 17 October, 2022
1 min read

Last Monday, FairVote released our 2016 general election presidential campaign tracker. This tracker, which has been regularly used this fall by National Popular Vote, looks at where major party candidates for president and vice-president have been rallying their supporters at events that are open to the public, free and intended to influence local voters. Our data for the tracker is based on local news reports and the campaigns’ public schedules.

As anyone familiar with current Electoral College rules would expect, the vast majority of general election campaigning occurs in swing states; that is, states with roughly equal numbers of voters who prefer Democrats and Republicans in presidential races. However, it is still remarkable just how little attention solidly partisan states get. So far this year 92.5% of campaign activity has occurred in just 11 projected swing states. Moreover, more than half of this activity has taken place in just four states: the large swing states of Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, as shown below:

State

Campaign Events

Percent of Total Events

Florida

48

16.4

Ohio

More Choice for San Diego

43

14.7

Pennsylvania

42

14.3

North Carolina

40

13.6

More Choice for San Diego

Subtotal

173

59.2

The Clinton campaign has only made two campaign stops outside of the eleven states that are projected to be highly competitive. One was to Nebraska’s second congressional district, which in fact can swing an electoral vote vote --Nebraska and Maine allocate some of their Electoral College votes according to winners of congressional districts. The other was a union rally in Illinois, which likely was chosen due to being close to the border of nearby swing state Ohio.

Read the Full Article Here.

Editor's note: This article, written by Theodore Landsman, originally published on FairVote's blog.

Photo Credit: danielfela / shutterstock.com

Latest articles

A wide shot of an Alaska city.
In a True Nail-Biter, Alaska Voters Reject Repeal of Top 4 Primary and Ranked Choice Voting
Two weeks after Election Day, Alaska voters finally know the fate of their election system. The choice before them was keep the nonpartisan Top 4 primary system with ranked choice voting in the general election or go back to partisan control over elections....
21 November, 2024
-
5 min read
Coin with Trump's face on it.
How Will the New Government Affect Independent Voters' Finances?
My rates! What happened to my rates? Partisan and independent voters ranked the economy the most important issue in the 2024 election....
20 November, 2024
-
9 min read
An elephant and donkey facing each other on a red bar.
Understanding The ‘Other Side’ Is More Important Than Ever
For some of us, just reading the title of this piece may be irritating — even maddening. If you’re scared about Trump’s election, being asked to understand the “other side” can seem a distant concern compared to your fears of what might happen during his presidency....
20 November, 2024
-
4 min read