Presidential Election Results: Trump's Support Slid In Chesco

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Tuesday's vote capped a heated battle for control of the White House, unfolding during a pandemic that killed nearly a quarter of a million Americans before Election Day.

On Saturday, the Philadelphia Inquirer and other news organizations announced Biden had won Pennsylvania and the presidency. President Donald Trump has not conceded as of Monday.

Trump had struggled to overcome polling deficits in key states in the campaign's final days. He ran strong as expected in rural areas, but lost support among other critical voting groups, including suburban women in several battleground states.

CNN reported in October that polling put former Vice President Joe Biden up by 25 points among women voters. According to the final 2016 pre-election polls, Clinton won women voters by 13 points among likely voters and 14 points among registered voters.

As more than 98 percent of Pennsylvania's vote is in, President Trump had 45,727 fewer votes than Biden, though Trump statewide made a gain of 0.3 percent over his 2016 numbers.

That one-third of 1 percent gain for Trump was outpaced by the Democratic increase. Biden's 49.8 percent of the Pennsylvania vote represented a 2.2 percent increase over votes cast in 2016 for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who received 47.6 percent of PA's 2016 vote.

In 2016, Trump had 48.8 percent of Pennsylvania's vote, compared to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 47.6 percent. On the Monday after Election Day 2020, with more than 98 percent of Pennsylvania's votes counted, Trump had 49.1 percent of our swing-state's votes, and despite that increase over his 2016 take, Biden had 49.8 percent of Pennsylvania's votes.

To see 2016 votes by county, view this NYT interactive map.

Though Biden was declared winner of the presidential race over the weekend, Republicans continued to insist the race is not over.

Yet the margin for Democrats was much wider in Chester County, where Biden won by 17 percentage points. In 2016, Clinton won in Chester County, but by 9 percentage points.

Pennsylvania's official state report for 2020 said today Biden has 57.87 percent of Chester County's vote, and Trump has 40.99 percent.

In 2016, Trump lost to Clinton in Chester County; Clinton had 52.6 percent of the vote here and Trump took 43.3 percent.

Former President Barack Obama won Pennsylvania by 5.4 percentage points in 2012.

Chester County Democrats reported Monday the party nationwide took 74 million votes — and counting — 3.4 million in Pennsylvania and 179,000 in Chester County. The voter turnout rate for Chester County was nearly 82 percent.

"Let us all exhale and take a moment to celebrate. What a relief! The outpouring of joy as people poured into the streets in towns and cities across the country was amazing," said Chester County Democratic Party Chair Dick Bingham.

As the Republican Party's massive voter registration campaign across Pennsylvania signed up far more voters than Democrats, Chester County was among a handful of PA counties where the opposite was true.

"In Chester County, we started 2020 in a strong position and have gotten even stronger as the year has progressed. It was only in May that we finally had more registered Democrats than Republicans! While we did not win every race, I am particularly grateful to all our extraordinary candidates and their teams. They have all made us proud," said Bingham.

Bingham said there are a few more votes to be counted including provisional ballots, which are ballots that require additional verification to assure their validity. There also remain to be counted ballots from military and overseas personnel.

Chester County's election results can be viewed here.