Trump 46% vs Biden 45% in Republican Strongholds
Government Criticism Grows in Sun Belt Areas Like Florida and Arizona Amid Infection Surge
Florida Reports 15,229 New Cases in a Day, Highest in the US
[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is reshaping the landscape of the U.S. presidential election. There are cases where a stronghold of one party is transforming into a fiercely contested battleground state among candidates due to the spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 is expected to become a key variable influencing the election outcome.
The most notable region is Texas. According to a poll released on the 12th (local time) by CBS and YouGov, President Donald Trump received 46% support in Texas, while Joe Biden (Democratic presidential candidate) garnered 45%. CNN cited this poll result, describing the Texas poll as astonishing and evaluated Texas as having become a battleground state in this election.
In particular, a joint poll by The Dallas Morning News and Texas State University Tyler Campus showed Biden with 46% support, 5 percentage points higher than President Trump’s 41%. In an April poll conducted after the presidential race was confirmed between Trump and Biden, both recorded 43% support each.
The surprise reaction stems from Texas traditionally being a Republican stronghold. According to The New York Times (NYT), President Trump won 52% of the vote in the 2016 election, beating Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton by a 9 percentage point margin. CNN reported that Clinton was the first Democratic presidential candidate since the 1990s to lose by a single-digit margin. CNN added that if Biden wins Texas in the upcoming November election, it would be the first victory for a Democratic candidate in 44 years since President Jimmy Carter in 1976. Texas, with the second-largest number of electoral votes (38) after California, inevitably has a significant impact on the presidential election.
President Trump’s crisis is not limited to Texas. In the CBS YouGov poll, Biden led Florida with 48% support, 6 percentage points ahead of Trump’s 42%. Florida, with 29 electoral votes, is a representative battleground state. In the previous election, Trump secured 49% of the vote in Florida, defeating Clinton who had 47.8%, and swept the electoral votes. According to the CBS YouGov poll, in Arizona, both candidates were tied at 46% each.
CBS diagnosed that the COVID-19 situation is changing the presidential election landscape in the 'Sun Belt' region. CBS analyzed that residents in these areas, which have become the epicenter of the COVID-19 resurgence, are expressing dissatisfaction with their state governments’ COVID-19 measures, which is beginning to influence the election. The governors of Texas, Florida, and Arizona are all Republicans. CNN also noted that amid worsening COVID-19 conditions, Biden is leading President Trump by more than 10 percentage points in national polls and maintains an advantage in 10 key battleground states.
The COVID-19 infection situation in these regions is worsening. In Florida, 15,229 new infections were reported in a single day, marking the highest number since the outbreak began in the U.S. However, Disney World in Orlando, Florida, reopened on the 11th, drawing continuous criticism for inadequate infection prevention measures.
The global COVID-19 situation is also serious. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported 230,370 new COVID-19 cases worldwide in the past 24 hours. This far exceeds the previous record of approximately 228,000 cases reported on the 10th.
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