(Getty)
Hillary Clinton officially surpassed Donald Trump in the popular vote, but lost the election based on the electoral college numbers. Trump got to the 270 electoral college votes he needed. Neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the popular vote.
We believe Clinton is very likely to win the national popular vote.
Many of the popular vote numbers do not account for California which will add a good number of votes to Clinton once the final count is completed. Despite having the popular vote, Clinton’s path to victory was prohibited by losing a number of key states she was projected to win before the election.
Donald Trump performed well in rural areas, and it looks to have played a role in him winning the election. Trump performed better than expected in Wisconsin and Michigan. Trump won Wisconsin which accounted for 10 electoral votes. Michigan is worth 16 electoral votes for the winner.
Clinton won California which amounted to 55 electoral votes, but lost two key states in Texas and Florida. California gave Clinton a large number of votes, but the 55 electoral college votes are the ones that matter most.
Trump was able to overcome the California loss in the electoral college with states like Florida. While it is no surprise Trump won Texas, Clinton had been leading early as the results trickled in. Texas has 38 electoral votes.
She also lost Florida which gave Trump an additional 29 electoral votes in a key swing state.
The last time a president won the election despite losing the popular vote was in 2000 when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore.