Swing State

In United States presidential politics, a swing state (also, battleground state or purple state) is a state in which no single candidate or party has overwhelming support in securing that state's electoral college votes. Such states are targets of both major political parties in presidential elections, since winning these states is the best opportunity for a party to gain electoral votes. Non-swing states are sometimes called safe states, because one candidate has strong enough support that he or she can safely assume that he or she will win the state's votes.

In U.S. presidential elections, the Electoral College system allows each state to decide the method by which it awards electors. Since in most states the legislature wants to increase the voting power of the majority, all states except Maine and Nebraska (explained below) use a winner-take-all system (as opposed to a majority electoral system) where the candidate who wins the most popular votes in a state wins all of that state's electoral votes. Under this system no advantage is gained by winning more than a plurality of the vote, nor is there any advantage gained by winning additional votes in a state that will still be lost. In other words, Presidential candidates have no incentive to spend time or resources in states they are likely to win or lose by a sizable margin.

China Blocks US Navy Ships' Access to Hong Kong Port

Edit Voa News 30 Apr 2016

China has denied a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier access to a port in Hong Kong. The Pentagon said Friday the USS Stennis and its accompanying vessels were refused entry into the port. The reason for denying access to the port was not clear ... WATCH ... ....

photo: Creative Commons / Michael Vadon

Will easily defeat Hillary Clinton in November, says Donald Trump

Edit One India 30 Apr 2016

Washington, Apr 30. Nearly 250 delegates short of bagging the Republican presidential nomination, party front- runner Donald Trump has exuded confidence that he would be able to defeat his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton very easily in the November general elections. "Every ... ....

photo: AP / Matt Rourke

Emmanuel Rutema, 13, of Tanzania, rides an elevator before his surgery at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia on Tuesday, June 30, 2015.

In Malawi, people with albinism face ‘total extinction’– UN rights expert

Edit United Nations 29 Apr 2016

Print. 29 April 2016 – A United Nations human rights expert today warned that the atrocities faced by persons with albinism in Malawi render them “an endangered people group facing a risk of systemic extinction over time if nothing is done.” ... “Many do not sleep peacefully and have deliberately restricted their movement to the necessary minimum,” she added ... ‘A crisis disturbing in its proportions’. Ms ... Ms ... Albinos. Photo ... Ms ... Ero stated....

photo: AP / Peter Parks

Japan's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Fumio Kishida

China Says Japan Ties Should Be Based On Cooperation, Not Confrontation

Edit NDTV 30 Apr 2016

China's relations with Japan should be based on cooperation not confrontation, China's foreign minister told his Japanese counterpart today, adding that China would judge Japan's desire to improve tie... ....

photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Obama announces new steps to curb gun violence

Edit Tampa Bay Online 30 Apr 2016

WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama announced new steps Friday to help curb gun violence, including by identifying the requirements that "smart guns" would have to meet for law enforcement agencies to buy and use them as well as sharing mental health records with the federal background check system ... The federal government will also continue to help state and local governments as smart-gun technology develops, the report said ... ___....

search tools

You can search using any combination of the items listed below.

Language:

Sort type:

Arrived Within:

Search Type:

Who will Hillary Clinton's running mate be? Here are some ideas

Edit The Observer 01 May 2016

Allies have floated senators from key battleground states, such as Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both of swing state Virginia, and Sherrod Brown, a senator from Ohio who is also popular with the progressive wing of the party ... Julián Castro, the housing secretary; and Tom Perez, the US labor chief. ....

How Donald Trump beats Hillary Clinton

Edit New York Post 01 May 2016

Indeed, 90 percent of “top operatives” in battleground swing states recently assured Politico that Clinton will clobber Trump ... Can Trump pick up enough disaffected Democrats in places like Pennsylvania and Ohio to offset the Democrats’ advantage among minorities and force them to play defense in states they normally take for granted?....

GOP women who top Trump's list of running mates

Edit The Examiner 30 Apr 2016

She said that is a far better idea than the usual selection of a running mate from a swing state ... Who are the women Trump may have on his short list of vice president choices? Number one, or close to it, would be former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Sen ... Former Secretary of State Rice has shown little interest in running for public office....

Millennials love clean energy, fear climate change, and don’t vote. This campaign wants to change that.

Edit Vox 30 Apr 2016

(These numbers are from the States of Change project; more here from Ron Brownstein.). In this year's election, NextGen is zeroing in on millennials in presidential swing states, where they're a particularly significant voting block. ... If recent history is any guide, a swing of a few percentage points in the millennial vote could shift senatorial and presidential elections in those states....

5 people Donald Trump could pick to be his vice president

Edit The Miami Herald 30 Apr 2016

Donald Trump's victories in a series of Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states over the past two weeks have made one thing clear ... "I just don't want to think about it right now," he said of the veepstakes following his five-state sweep on Tuesday night ... billionaire won the Sunshine State in early March ... Plus, he's from a big swing state....

Trump's mention of 'woman's card' draws backlash

Edit Naples Daily News 30 Apr 2016

Trump had leveled the "woman's card" accusation Tuesday after his own five-state primary sweep ... Four years ago, 11 out of 13 general election swing states went to the nominee who won among women ... Exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks in 25 states this year show Clinton won 62 percent of female voters over Bernie Sanders' 36 percent....

Trump Said to Lack Plan for Fundraising, Running Mate Vetting

Edit Bloomberg 30 Apr 2016

Pennsylvania GOP chairman Rob Gleason, who was among the swing state leaders who Manafort has singled out for private meetings recently, said he thinks Trump aides “really want to get the party on board and they recognize that Donald Trump needs the Republican Party's organization to win in the fall.” ... of field organizers and state directors. ....

Asian-American Voters Targeted in US Swing States

Edit Voa News 29 Apr 2016

swing states, a bid to give the relatively small but fast-growing group outsize influence in the November 8 presidential election ... "If this community were to turn out more, it can actually swing the election," said Dilawar Syed, the fund’s co-founder and vice chairman ... But its efforts are aimed broadly, looking less to influence specific swing states than to raise Asian-American voter engagement across the country....

Ticket-splitting voters vital for swing-state GOP senators

Edit Fox News 29 Apr 2016

Control of Senate at stake in 2016 ... ....

Clinton shifting staff to general election swing states

Edit USA Today 29 Apr 2016

The redeployment comes as the campaign is ratcheting back advertising in upcoming Democratic primary states.   . ... ....

Clinton Team Shifting Staff to General Election Swing States

Edit NBC News 29 Apr 2016

So far, the campaign is setting up state directors in Florida, New Hampshire and Colorado ... ....

I Am The Best Candidate For General Election

Edit Opposing Views 29 Apr 2016

We've got to fight for every one of those states,” he said.  ... “A lot of campaigns when they get through the primary and go into the general election nowadays compete in six states, the swing states. So if people are only campaigning in the purple states they are only campaigning to those swing state voters and not caring about what the whole country needs,” Sanders campaign volunteer Nicholas Engel told CBS News. ....

Zane State College 2016 Spring Commencement (Zane State College)

Edit Public Technologies 29 Apr 2016

Zane State College). Zane State College 2016 Spring Commencement. Features Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted as Speaker ... Zane State College's 46 annual spring commencement ceremony will recognize . Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted will deliver the commencement address. Husted oversees elections in the crucial swing-state of Ohio....