Tue. Nov 26th, 2024

The Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks at the Detroit Economic Club on October 10, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. (Bill Pugliano | Getty Images)

For a third consecutive general election, West Virginians voted strongly in support of former President Donald Trump’s bid for president, giving him the state’s four electoral votes, according to unofficial election results. The Associated Press called the race for Trump in West Virginia as soon as polls closed at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

As of 8 p.m. on Tuesday, with 8% of votes counted, Trump had secured 58.6% of votes cast in West Virginia compared to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 39.8% of votes.

The support for Trump across the Mountain State is not new; residents overwhelmingly supported him  in both the 2016 and 2020 general elections, with about 69% of voters in both years coming out for him. That’s compared to the 26% of voters who went for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and the nearly 30% of voters who supported President Joe Biden in 2020.

Though the former president did not make a stop in West Virginia for the 2024 general election, his presence has been known. Gov. Jim Justice — who did little to no campaigning for his own Republican Senate race in West Virginia — hit the campaign trail for Trump at rallies in several swing states, urging voters to support him. And in West Virginia, Trump’s endorsement, image and stances have been used by Republican candidates for office at nearly all levels to garner votes by referring to themselves as “Trump Republicans.”

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