Indiana
Trump dominated Indiana. Where did he perform better, worse here than in 2020?
Americans react to Donald Trump’s presidential election win
President-elect Donald Trump’s supporters expressed relief after realizing he won. Meanwhile, Harris supporters were stunned.
Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory over Democrat Kamala Harris in Indiana was not a surprise on Election Day; the race was called for the former president right as all Indiana polls were closed.
Not only did he delivery a victory, getting 58.9% of the vote to Harris’ 39.4%, he also performed better in Indiana than he did in the previous two election cycles, according to the unofficial results.
Trump’s vote share this year was 19.5 percentage points higher than Harris’. In 2020, Trump defeated President Joe Biden here by 16 points. And in 2016, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton here by 19 points.
In both of those elections, Trump won between 56.5% and 57% of the vote. This year, he performed two points better than that.
Trump dominated Indiana in 2024 by winning 88 of Indiana’s 92 counties, with Harris winning just Marion, Monroe, Lake and St. Joseph counties.
In 2020 he won one fewer county here: Tippecanoe County, which comprises Lafayette and West Lafayette. Tippecanoe County flipped back to Trump this year, albeit narrowly. Trump got 49.2% of the vote there to Harris’ 48.9%. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who dropped out of the race, and Libertarian Chase Oliver each got about 1% in that county.
Though some Indiana Democrats hoped to chip into Trump’s vote share in suburban Hamilton County, that didn’t happen in a substantial way. Trump performed similarly in suburban Indianapolis this year to his 2020 showing, though Harris did just over a half-point better there than Biden.
This year, Trump won Hamilton County by 52.1% to Harris’ 46%, with RFK Jr. and Oliver each getting about 1%.
Where did Trump do better than in 2020?
Along with Tippecanoe County flipping for Trump, most of the state saw shifts to the right that contributed to Trump’s continued dominance here.
Lake County, which includes Gary, was nearly 10 points more Republican than in 2020, according to an analysis by the New York Times. Biden won Lake County by more than 33,000 votes in 2020. Harris won Lake County by just 11,775 votes this election.
LaPorte County also swung right by more than 7 points, according to that analysis. Several other counties, from Newton to Jasper to Pulaski Counties in the northwest part of the state each shifted to Republicans by about 5 points.
Where did Harris do better than in 2020?
There was no real good news for Indiana Democrats in Tuesday’s election results. But a few areas shifted a little bit more Democratic over 2020.
Besides the slight shift in Hamilton County, other Indianapolis suburbs where Harris performed marginally better than Biden in 2020 were Hancock County, where she did 3.8 points better than in 2020 and Boone County, which favored Harris by 2.4 points more than Biden, according to New York Times data.
Steuben County in the Northeast part of the state was more than 3 points more Democratic than 2020, Benton County on the far west side of the state was 1.6 points more Democratic and Harrison County near the Indiana-Kentucky border was seven points more Democratic.
Reactions to Trump’s performance
Indiana’s Republican U.S. Sen. Todd Young congratulated Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance “on their decisive victory.”
“The incoming Trump administration and new Republican Senate majority will work together to reverse the open border policies of the last four years and address the economic challenges facing families in Indiana and across the country,” Young wrote in an X post.
Indianapolis City-County Councilor Nick Roberts, a Democrat, said the result of the election was “genuinely devastating” but praised Harris, saying she “ran an incredible campaign” in a tight window. He also pointed out that Harris carried the majority of precincts in suburban Carmel, signaling future potential for Democrats in the Indianapolis suburbs.
Contact senior government accountability reporter Hayleigh Colombo at hcolombo@indystar.com.