News & Politics

Did a Bigger Share of DC Voters Pick Trump This Year?

Wards 7 and 8 saw around a 60 percent increase in Republican votes. What happened?

Photograph by Gage Skidmore/Flickr.

As the country shifted red, DC remained staunchly blue this election, with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris winning just over 90 percent of the District’s 283,040 votes for President on Tuesday, according to the Board of Elections. However, a shift can be seen between now and 2020—a larger share of DC voters selected Trump this time around.

Trump received almost 7 percent of the District vote this year; in 2020, he won just shy of 5.5 percent. The total number of ballots between the two elections (18,586 in 2020 and 18,669 in 2024) is only a difference of around 100 votes—however, where we see the red votes coming from has changed:

 

 

In 2020, Wards 3 and 6 contributed the highest proportion of Trump's DC haul, with 3,705 and 4,337 votes, respectively. These areas, which according to the Census are largely white, with median incomes in the six-figure range, still held the most Trump voters in 2024. However, each showed a distinct decrease: around 15 percent for Ward 3 and 26 percent for Ward 6.

Far more notable is the uptick in red votes in Wards 7 and 8. Located mostly on the southeast corner of the District across the Anacostia River, these are the two most highly populated wards in the District, with a majority of residents being Black according to the Census. Ward 7 saw a 64.5 percent increase in Trump votes and Ward 8 a 58.5 percent increase.

What led these areas to turn more red over the last four years? Axios DC reporter Cuneyt Dil suspects redistricting could have played a role: A 2021 proposal shifted Navy Yard, an area that's majority white, with a median income of around $155,000, from Ward 6 into Ward 8. In addition, more areas of Capitol Hill were allocated to Ward 7. Overall, it may not be that Trump flipped former blue voters in these areas, but rather his existing voters were simply moved around within the District.

Molly Szymanski
Editorial Fellow