Recent elections by the numbers: Who won and when did we know?

NPR | By Rachel Treisman

Published November 5, 2024 at 12:53 PM EST

Fireworks explode above Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House as thousands wait to hear President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris speak from Delaware on Nov. 7, 2020.

Past elections are by no means a predictor of how things will go this time around. But they can offer useful context about how races played out in the past. Here's a quick refresher:

2020

Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris defeated Republicans Donald Trump and Mike Pence — 306 to 232 electoral votes; 51.3% to 46.8% of the popular vote.

Biden was projected the winner at 11:26 a.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 7, four days after Election Day. It took longer for votes to be counted because of changes to the voting process as a result of COVID-19.

2016

The Trump-Pence ticket defeated Democrats Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine by the same electoral margin, 306 to 232. While Republicans won 45.9% of the popular vote, Clinton won 48%.

Trump was projected the winner at 2:29 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 9, the morning after Election Day.

2012

Democrats Barack Obama and Biden won reelection with 332 electoral votes, topping Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan's 206. That's 51% of the popular vote compared to 47.2%.

Obama was projected the winner before Election Day ended, at 11:38 p.m. ET on Nov. 6.

2008

Obama and Biden defeated John McCain and Sarah Palin, winning 365 electoral votes or 52.9% of the popular vote. The McCain campaign won 173 electoral votes and 45.6% of the popular vote.

Obama was projected the winner around 11 p.m. on Election Day, and McCain conceded at 11:18 p.m. ET.

2004

Republicans George W. Bush and Dick Cheney won reelection with 286 electoral votes, or 50.7% of the popular vote. The John Kerry-John Edwards ticket won 251 electoral votes and 48.2% of the popular vote.

Kerry called Bush to concede around 11 a.m. ET the morning after Election Day.

2000

Bush and Cheney narrowly won the election with 271 electoral votes to the 266 won by Al Gore and Joe Lieberman. But the Democrats won the popular vote, 48.4% to 47.9%.

The outcome of the race was unknown for several weeks due to legal disputes over the close tally in Florida. The U.S. Supreme Court ended the recount on Dec. 12, and Gore conceded to Bush the following day — 36 days after Election Day.