Massachusetts might be the most liberal state in the country, but the state looked much better for President-elect Donald Trump this November than it did in elections past.
Vice President Kamala Harris easily won the Bay State’s 11 electoral votes, as expected, defeating Trump 61.3 percent to 36.5 percent, according to The Associated Press.
However, that 24.8-point margin of victory for the Democratic candidate was much lower than the 33.5-point margin of victory President Joe Biden had over Trump in 2020. Biden won Massachusetts in 2020 by 65.6 percent to 32.1 percent, according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office. That’s an 8.7-point decrease in the Democratic nominee’s margin of victory.
Trump also came within a point of winning Bristol County, according to The Wall Street Journal. He received 48.7 percent of the vote there, while Harris got 49.6 percent. This comes after Joe Biden beat Trump by 12 points in the county, 55.1 percent to 43.1 percent, according to Politico. That’s an 11.1-point swing toward Trump in Bristol County.
Massachusetts had the fourth biggest shift towards Trump out of the 50 states. Only New York (11 points), New Jersey (10 points), and Florida (9.8 points) were ahead of the Bay State, according to Fox News.
The GOP also did 3.4 points better than in 2016 when former First Lady Hillary Clinton beat Trump by 27.2 points (60 percent to 32.8 percent).
So why did Trump do better in Massachusetts this time around?
While the Trump campaign and political action committees didn’t target Massachusetts as one of its seven key swing states, the Bay State has enthusiastic Trump supporters who wanted to get people out to vote for him, according to Massachusetts Republican national committeewoman Janet Fogarty.
Those efforts from Massachusetts Trump supporters also aided him in battleground states, Fogarty said.
“Massachusetts set the standard for voter outreach during President-Elect Donald Trump’s campaign, and I’m proud of the pivotal role the MassGOP played in that success,” Fogarty told NewBostonPost in a statement provided by the Massachusetts Republican Party. “Under our leadership, as National Committeewoman and Massachusetts Trump Campaign Chairman Sheriff Tom Hodgson, we ranked 4th nationwide in phone banking — a testament to our team’s relentless dedication.”
Fogarty also credited the migrant crisis as a key issue that swung Massachusetts more towards the GOP than in elections past. She said that Governor Maura Healey’s handling of the situation resulted in more people supporting Trump.
“Folks sometimes forget that Massachusetts is majority independent,” Fogarty said in the written statement. “It’s not as blue as people think, and when Republicans work together, under a strong message that resonates with voters, we can accomplish a lot here in Massachusetts. Even post-election, you can see that people are realizing that the Democratic supermajority under the leadership of Governor Maura Healey is an outright disaster. President Trump won a mandate nationwide indicating that the American citizens are fed up with illegal migrants being prioritized over our very own citizens and veterans. The 9% shift in votes to Pres. Trump should be a loud and clear sounding call to Gov. Healey that even here in MA, we’ve had enough of her woke agenda.”
An NBC News exit poll found that the top five issues on voters’ minds nationally in the 2024 presidential election were “the state of democracy” at 34 percent (Harris won these voters 80 percent to 18 percent), “the economy” at 32 percent (Trump won these voters 81 percent to 18 percent), “abortion” at 14 percent (Harris won these voters 76 percent to 24 percent), “immigration” at 12 percent (Trump won these voters 89 percent to 9 percent), and “foreign policy” at 4 percent (Trump won these voters 56 percent to 39 percent).
Trump gave the GOP its best presidential performance in the Bay State since 2012 — the year former Governor Mitt Romney was the Republican nominee. That year, then-President Barack Obama defeated Romney 60.7 percent to 37.5 percent, a 23.2-point margin of victory.
A Republican has not won a presidential election in Massachusetts since 1984. That year, sitting President Ronald Reagan defeated former Vice President Walter Mondale in 49 states; Mondale only won his home state of Minnesota and the District 0f Columbia.
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