Swing States - List and Definition

Swing States - List and Definition Swing states are those in which neither major political party holds a lock on the outcome of presidential elections. The term can also be used to describe a state whose electoral votes have a high probability of being the deciding factor in a presidential election. In the 2016 presidential election, Pennsylvania is likely to be the state that determines the winner.   Swing states are also sometimes referred to as battleground states. There are more than a dozen states considered swing states, and most of them hold a large number of electoral votes and are considered major prizes in presidential elections. List of Swing States The states that are most often described as being up in the air or ones that could side with either a Republican or Democratic presidential candidate are: Arizona:  11 electoral votes. The state has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in nine of the last 10 elections. Colorado: Nine  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in seven of the last 10 elections. Florida: 29  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in six of the last 10 elections. Georgia: 16  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in seven  of the last 10 elections. Iowa: Six  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in six of the last 10 elections. Michigan: 16  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in six  of the last 10 elections.   Minnesota: 10 electoral votes.  Ã‚  The state has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in each of the last 10 elections. Nevada: Six  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Republican president ial nominee in six of the last 10 elections. New Hampshire:  Four electoral votes. The state has split its vote between the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees in the past 10 elections. North Carolina: 15  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in eight of the last 10 elections. Ohio: 18 electoral votes.  The state has split its vote between the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees in the past 10 elections. Pennsylvania: 20  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in seven of the last 10 elections.   Virginia: 13 electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in eight of the last 10 elections. Wisconsin: 10  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in eight of the last 10 elections.   Swing Voters and Their Role in Swing States States that shift back and forth between candidates of both major political parties in presidential elections could be evenly divided between voters registered Republican and Democratic. Or they could have large numbers of swing voters, those who tend to vote for individual and not the party and have no loyalty to a party. The portion of the American electorate made up of swing voters ranges from about a quarter to a third between presidential elections, according to the Pew Research Center. The number of swing voters declines when an incumbent president is seeking a second term. Different Uses of Swing State The term swing state is used two different ways. The most popular use of swing state is to describe one in which the popular vote margin in a presidential race is relatively narrow and fluid, meaning that either a Republican or Democrat could win the states electoral votes in any given election cycle. Others define swing states, however, as those that could be the tipping point in a presidential election. For example, Nate Silver, a widely read political journalist writing on The New York Times blog FiveThirtyEight, defined the term swing state this way: When I employ the term, I mean a state that could swing the outcome of the election. That is, if the state changed hands, the victor in the Electoral College would change as well.