How did Trump and Harris fare?

Trump, the president-elect, has a lead of nearly 5 million votes over Vice President Kamala Harris. He has never won the popular vote before.

While Republican Donald Trump has secured a return to the White House, the popular vote is still being counted as ballots are counted across the country.

But as things stand, the president-elect has a clear lead of nearly 5 million votes over Vice President Kamala Harris late Wednesday morning. If Trump ultimately wins the national popular vote — a moral victory that ultimately has no bearing on the election outcome — he would be the first Republican presidential candidate to do so in two decades.

Here's what you should know about the popular vote and Trump's path to winning it for the first time in his three presidential campaigns.

What is the national popular vote?

After all votes have been counted, the candidate who cast the most individual votes in his or her favor wins the popular vote.

However, the winners of presidential elections in the United States are decided by the Electoral College, not the national popular vote. Statewide popular votes are used to determine which presidential candidate receives that state's electoral votes, with the exception of Nebraska and Maine, both of which allow electors to be apportioned in the form of “proportional representation.”

While the popular vote doesn't always agree with the eventual winner, it does provide insight into who individual voters prefer in the White House and can be seen as a moral victory for a candidate.

Could Trump win the popular vote?

As of late Wednesday morning, Trump had received 71.7 million votes, ahead of Democrat Harris, who had 66.8 million votes.

If Trump wins a majority of the vote in the 2024 presidential election, it would be the first time he has achieved that feat in any of his three general election campaigns.

Despite winning enough electoral votes to win in 2016, he lost the popular vote to Clinton by nearly 2.9 million votes, becoming one of five presidents to lose the popular vote but win the presidency.

President Joe Biden also won the popular vote in 2020 by four points over Trump and was on track to unseat the then-incumbent.

According to the Federal Election Commission, Biden received more than 81 million votes in the 2020 presidential election. That's just over 51% of the population's vote. Biden holds the record for the most votes ever won by a US presidential candidate.

When was the last time a Republican won the popular vote?

The last Republican to win a popular vote in the United States was George W. Bush during his re-election campaign in 2004.

According to the American Presidency Project, Bush defeated Democratic Senator John Kerry that year after receiving 50.7% of the popular vote and 286 electoral votes.

However, Bush lost the popular vote in 2000 to Al Gore, who received only 48.4% of the vote, according to the American Presidency Project. Votes for smaller party candidates prevented the two major parties from receiving a majority of the popular vote.

Before Biden and Clinton won the lion's share of votes against Trump in their respective elections, Barack Obama won twice when he was elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012, defeating the late U.S. Senator John McCain and Republican Senator Mitt Romney, respectively, for the American presidency Project.

Contributors: Anna Kaufman, Jonathan Limehouse, Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and breaking news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]

Trump, the president-elect, has a lead of nearly 5 million votes over Vice President Kamala Harris. He has never won the popular vote before.

What is the national popular vote?

Could Trump win the popular vote?

When was the last time a Republican won the popular vote?

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