On Election Day, Donald Trump won 74 million votes — 11 million more than in 2016. But Joe Biden accomplished a considerably more impressive feat: he attracted 81 million votes, 15 million more than Hillary Clinton did in 2016.
Who were the Biden Democrats? An examination of the data reveals surprising patterns — and foreshadows a new direction for the Democratic Party.
Metros with more
than 1 million
residents
Elsewhere
in the
United States
Clinton
2016
65.9
million
Biden
2020
81.2
million
20
40
60
80 million
The New York City area alone
gave Biden 5.4 million votes
Metros with more
than 1 million
residents
Elsewhere
in the
United States
Clinton
2016
65.9
million
Biden
2020
81.2
million
20
40
60
80 million
The New York City area alone
gave Biden 5.4 million votes
Metros with more
than 1 million residents
Elsewhere in
the United States
Total
votes
Clinton
2016
65.9 million
Biden
2020
81.2 million
The New York City area alone gave Biden 5.4 million votes
20
60
80 million
40
Biden built on Clinton’s strong performances in major metro areas. In the largest metros — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, etc. — he exceeded her total by 3.8 million votes. In other metros, such as Phoenix, Minneapolis, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, he added another six million votes.
Clinton’s strong performances in these metros was enough to win her the popular vote. But Biden’s improvements allowed him to win the electoral college, pad his popular vote total and chart a new course for the party.
Georgia
Atlanta shifts Georgia from red to purple
For decades, Georgia was a reliably red state — but Biden turned it purple by finding new votes in cities.
Elsewhere
in Georgia
Columbus, Augusta
and Savannah
Clinton
2016
1.88
million
Atlanta
Biden
2020
2.47
million
Atlanta
.5
1
1.5
2
2.5 million
Biden had more votes in Georgia’s big cities in 2020 than Hillary Clinton had in the entire state in 2016.
Elsewhere
in Georgia
Columbus, Augusta
and Savannah
Clinton
2016
1.88
million
Atlanta
Biden
2020
2.47
million
Atlanta
.5
1
1.5
2
2.5 million
Biden had more votes in Georgia’s big cities in 2020 than Hillary Clinton had in the entire state in 2016.
Elsewhere
in Georgia
Total
votes
Columbus, Augusta
and Savannah
Clinton
2016
Atlanta
1.88 million
Biden
2020
2.47 million
Atlanta
.5
1
1.5
2
2.5 million
Biden had more votes in Georgia’s big cities in 2020 than Hillary Clinton had in the entire state in 2016.
Biden added 600,000 votes to Clinton’s 2016 total. Roughly five out of six of those added votes came from the state’s largest metro areas: Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta and Columbus. In those areas, Black voters and other loyal Democrats joined with suburban GOP converts to deliver a massive surge of votes for Biden.
Nonetheless, Biden’s margin in Georgia was extremely narrow , and he needed votes in smaller towns and rural counties to overtake Trump. But Biden’s gains in Atlanta were what turned Georgia from a deeply red to purple.
Michigan
Rural and urban gains push Biden over the top
Major metros similarly helped Biden in Michigan — but rural voters also played a key role in his victory.
Grand Rapids
and Lansing
Elsewhere
in Michigan
Clinton
2016
2.27
million
Detroit
Biden
2020
2.80
million
Detroit
.5
1
1.5
2
2.5 million
Grand Rapids
and Lansing
Elsewhere
in Michigan
Clinton
2016
2.27
million
Detroit
Biden
2020
2.80
million
Detroit
.5
1
1.5
2
2.5 million
Total
votes
Grand Rapids
and Lansing
Elsewhere
in Michigan
Clinton
2016
2.27 million
Detroit
Detroit
Biden
2020
2.80 million
.5
1
1.5
2
2.5 million
Biden’s biggest gains came from Grand Rapids and Detroit — where he lost Black voters in the city’s center but added supporters in the suburbs. He also gained 30,000 votes in Lansing, the state’s capital.
But Biden also netted a crucial 191,000 new votes in Michigan’s smaller metros, towns and rural areas. Without these votes, Biden’s margin of victory might have been eliminated.
North Carolina
Small metros mean insufficient gains
Biden made gains in a number of cities across North Carolina. But without a single mega-city to help him as it did in Michigan and Georgia, the state stayed red.
North Carolina’s five
biggest metro areas*
Elsewhere in
North Carolina
Clinton
2016
2.19
million
Biden
2020
2.68
million
1
1.5
.5
2
2.5 million
*Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem,
Durham/Chapel Hill
North Carolina’s five
biggest metro areas*
Elsewhere in
North Carolina
2.19
million
Clinton
2016
Biden
2020
2.68
million
1
1.5
.5
2
2.5 million
*Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem,
Durham/Chapel Hill
North Carolina’s five
biggest metro areas*
Elsewhere in
North Carolina
Total
votes
Clinton
2016
2.19 million
Biden
2020
2.68 million
1
1.5
.5
2
2.5
*Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Durham/Chapel Hill
Biden found more than 350,000 new votes in Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Durham/Chapel Hill. These added votes helped Biden stay in the race, but they weren’t enough to flip North Carolina. Trump also added votes — many from outside the large metros — and eked out a one point victory.
California
Biden gained in blue states too
As in Georgia, Biden performed better in California’s five largest cities in 2020 than Hillary Clinton performed statewide in 2016.
Los
Angeles
San
Francisco
Elsewhere
in California
Clinton
2016
8.75 million
Four other large metros*
11.1
million
Biden
2020
4
6
2
8
10 million
*Riverside, Sacramento, San Jose, San Diego are
combined in this block.
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Elsewhere in Calif.
Clinton
2016
8.75 million
Four other large metros*
11.1
million
Biden
2020
4
6
2
8
10 million
*Riverside, Sacramento, San Jose, San Diego are
combined in this block.
Elsewhere in
California
Four other
large metros*
San
Francisco
Total
votes
Clinton
2016
8.75 million
Los Angeles
Biden
2020
Los Angeles
11.1 million
4
6
2
8
10 million
*Riverside, Sacramento, San Jose, San Diego are combined in this block
California was always safely blue, and neither candidate campaigned there during the general election.
In San Francisco and Los Angeles (where historically Republican suburbs moved towards Biden), he found more than 1 million new votes. He added 786,000 votes in four other major metros — Riverside, San Diego, Sacramento and San Jose — plus another half million in the smaller metros and towns scattered across the state.
These new Democrats didn’t net Biden any extra electoral votes, but they strengthened his lead in the overall popular vote.
Kansas
Unexpected strength in the GOP-dominated plains
Finally, Biden also posted gains in red states that he lost. Like Kansas.
Kansas
City
Wichita
Elsewhere in
Kansas
Clinton
2016
427,005
Biden
2020
570,323
100k
300
500
Kansas
City
Wichita
Elsewhere in
Kansas
Clinton
2016
427,005
Biden
2020
570,323
200
100k
300
400
500
Total
votes
Elsewhere in
Kansas
Wichita
Clinton
2016
427,005
Kansas City
Biden
2020
Kansas City
570,323
200
300
100k
400
500
Democrats haven’t won a presidential election in Kansas since 1964, and they didn’t come close in 2020. But Biden still found new voters across the state, and outperformed other recent Democratic presidential candidates. And in other deep red plains and mountain states — such as Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming and the Dakotas — Biden improved on Clinton’s total.
What it means
Biden’s base is larger than Hillary Clinton’s — but its composition is different than what some might have expected. Scranton Joe didn’t win by taking back White, older segments of the country, though he gained some votes in those areas. Instead, he won the cities and suburbs of large metropolitan areas, where demographics and economics favor liberal politics. This is a powerful coalition — and if Biden and Kamala Harris can hold it together, it has the potential to deliver major policy victories for progressives.
Note: Metro areas defined by Office of Management and Budget’s core-based statistical areas. Election results from Dave Leip’s Election Atlas
Read more:
David Byler: Trump lost, but he won millions of new voters. Where did they come from?
Henry Olsen: New data shows both a hopeful and worrying portrait of race in America
Jonathan Capehart: This is white supremacist domestic terrorism. We’ve been here before.
Jackie Speier: The Capitol riot shows the military needs help fighting radicalization in the ranks