Die US-Präsidentschaftswahl vom 3. November 2020: Trumps Abwahl
In: Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen, Band 52, Heft 2, S. 264-288
The 59th US presidential election took place on November 3, 2020. Four years after his spectacular success, Republican Donald Trump was voted out of office - only the eleventh President in US history to not be re-elected. Democrats and their candidate Joe Biden not only recaptured the White House in a politically and socially divided country. They also succeeded in defending their majority in the House of Representatives and in pushing the Senate to a stalemate. The 46th President of the United States led with seven million votes in the popular vote. After a tight race in particularly decisive states, his result in the Electoral College was similar to Trump's in the 2016 election. But President Biden owes his victory only to a limited extent to his own strength. Although he unfolded more traction than the previous Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, it was also the Anti-Trump-mood that led to a sharp rise in voter turnout, a high share of absentee-voting, and finally the defeat of the incumbent President. This shift was primarily triggered by highly volatile groups of politically moderate and non-partisan voters as well as by those who did not vote in 2016. At the same time, voters showed high loyalty for Trump. Highly mobilized core voter groups in both camps dug in even further, and the polarization has hardened. Similar to the previous two changes in the Presidency, there is no substantial realignment in the electorate.