Allan Lichtman: “I will take some time out to assess why I was wrong.”

Election night 2024 was tough for many people. One of them was Allan Lichtman.

The American university professor confidently predicted in September that Kamala Harris would win. In a livestream last night, as the enormity of Donald Trump's eventual victory became clearer around midnight, Lichtman appeared to try to boldly show why his “keys” – the 13 questions he believed would determine the next commander in chief – They didn't turn like he said they would. About 40,000 people watched as Lichtman repeatedly talked about waiting for the “provisional votes” to be counted until it became clear that there were no longer enough votes for Harris to win in the so-called “blue wall” states .

That beating was followed by a wave of criticism of Lichtman's predictions, his record and his methodology. He engaged in a months-long feud with Nate Silver that improbably lasted until Tuesday.

I emailed Lichtman this morning to ask if he wanted to talk about what he thought went wrong. He thanked me and declined. “Thanks Andrew,” he wrote. “But I will take some time out to assess why I was wrong and what the future holds for the country.”

Senior Editor

Andrew Beaujon has joined Washingtonian Late 2014. He previously worked at the Poynter Institute, TBD.com and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.