Past elections are by no means a predictor of how things will go this time. But they can provide useful context about how races played out in the past. Here’s a quick refresher:

2020

Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris defeated Republicans Donald Trump and Mike Pence – 306 to 232 electoral votes; 51.3% to 46.8% of the vote.

Biden was projected as the winner at 11:26 a.m. ET on Saturday, November 7, four days after Election Day. Vote counting took longer due to changes in the voting process due to COVID-19.

2016

The Trump-Pence ticket defeated Democrats Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine by the same electoral margin, 306 to 232. While Republicans won 45.9% of the vote, Clinton won 48%.

Trump was projected as the winner at 2:29 a.m. ET on Wednesday, November 9, the morning after Election Day.

2012

Democrats Barack Obama and Biden won re-election with 332 electoral votes, surpassing Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s 206. That’s 51% of the vote, compared to 47.2%.

Obama was projected as the winner before Election Day ended, at 11:38 PM ET on November 6.

2008

Obama and Biden defeated John McCain and Sarah Palin, winning 365 electoral votes or 52.9% of the vote. The McCain campaign won 173 electoral votes and 45.6% of the vote.

Obama was projected as the winner around 11 p.m. on Election Day, and McCain conceded at 11:18 p.m. ET.

2004

Republicans George W. Bush and Dick Cheney won re-election with 286 electoral votes, or 50.7% of the vote. The John Kerry-John Edwards ticket won 251 electoral votes and 48.2% of the vote.

Kerry called Bush around 11 a.m. ET the morning after Election Day to concede.

2000

Bush and Cheney narrowly won the election with 271 electoral votes, compared to the 266 won by Al Gore and Joe Lieberman. But Democrats won the popular vote, 48.4% to 47.9%.

The outcome of the race was unknown for weeks due to legal disputes over the close result in Florida. The U.S. Supreme Court ended the recount on December 12, and Gore conceded to Bush the next day – 36 days after Election Day.

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