The winner of the 2024 Presidential election has been declared: Donald Trump will be the 47th President of the United States. Trump passed the 270 electoral vote threshold by a landslide. This election was a huge upset for the Democrats as Trump won in all seven of the battleground states. These include Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada. The final count was 312 electoral votes for Trump and 226 for Harris. In New Jersey, Kamala Harris only won the state with 5.5% more votes than Trump. This was the closest our state voted in all three elections that Trump has run in. Kamala Harris led a big fight despite being the nominee for only about 100 days. Though many political pundits have blamed Harris’s loss on Biden’s reluctance to drop out earlier, and the lack of a primary process after he dropped out, it is unclear what genuinely correlated to a Harris defeat.

A second Trump presidency will be different, as he plans mass deportations, dismantling the Department of Education, and increasing tariffs. Additionally, the recent Supreme Court ruling Trump v. The United States grants the president full immunity on official acts. Democrats across the country are feeling a sense of loss and uncertainty while Republicans are feeling hopeful and optimistic. The Republicans also gained the Senate and are on track to gain back the House (all the results have yet to come in as of 11/7). The final months of the Biden-Harris Administration are expected to be filled with initiatives to finish off their term well and solidify some of their major policy accomplishments. Presidents oftentimes pardon individuals as part of their final months in office. Though Trump has proposed all these major policy goals as previously stated, it is still uncertain what policies he will go forward with. It is time to take a deep breath and be thankful this turbulent election year is over and move forward!