Results & measures · Presidential elections
Margin of victory
The gap between the parties in percentage points — Democratic share minus Republican share.
The margin of victory is the gap between the two major parties, measured in percentage points of all votes cast. On pumsdata it is stored as a signed number — the Democratic share minus the Republican share — so +12.4 means the Democrat carried the place by 12.4 points (shown as D+12.4) and −3.5 means the Republican carried it by 3.5 points (R+3.5).
Margins are the standard shorthand for how contested a place is: a margin inside roughly five points usually reads as competitive, while D+40 or R+40 territory is a landslide. Because the margin is computed over all votes — including third-party and write-in votes — the two parties' shares don't have to add to 100.
Also known as: margin, point margin, D+, R+.
See margin of victory in the data
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Margin of victory — FAQ
What is margin of victory in election results data?+
The gap between the parties in percentage points — Democratic share minus Republican share. The margin of victory is the gap between the two major parties, measured in percentage points of all votes cast. On pumsdata it is stored as a signed number — the Democratic share minus the Republican share — so +12.4 means the Democrat carried the place by 12.4 points (shown as D+12.4) and −3.5 means the Republican carried it by 3.5 points (R+3.5).
Why does margin of victory matter?+
Margins are the standard shorthand for how contested a place is: a margin inside roughly five points usually reads as competitive, while D+40 or R+40 territory is a landslide. Because the margin is computed over all votes — including third-party and write-in votes — the two parties' shares don't have to add to 100.
Where does this election results data come from?+
County-level presidential returns come from the MIT Election Data and Science Lab (MEDSL). pumsdata is an independent product and is not affiliated with MEDSL or with any campaign, party or election authority.