Current Nowcast
| Biden | Trump |
|---|---|
| 365 (-11) | 171 (+11) |
| Probability Trump Victory | 0.00% |
| Probability Trump 250+ EC Votes | 0.11% |
| Probability Trump 240+ EC Votes | 0.30% |
| Probability Tie | 0.00% |
| 50% Confidence Interval Trump EC Votes | 160 – 186 |
| Trump Modal EC Vote (EC Vote value with highest prob) | 160 – 7.2% likely |
| Trump Median EC Vote (Centre of Probability Distribution) | 171 – 3.7% likely |
| Type of State | EC Votes | States |
|---|---|---|
| Safe Biden | 199 | |
| Safe Biden – Swing State | 74 | Pennsylvania (20) Michigan (16) Virginia (13) Minnesota (10) Wisconsin (10) New Hampshire (4) Nebraska 2 (1) |
| Strong Biden | 88 | Texas (38) Florida (29) North Carolina (15) Nevada (6) |
| Soft Biden | 11 | Arizona (11) |
| Tie | 6 | Iowa (6) |
| Soft Trump | ||
| Strong Trump | 48 | Ohio (18) Georgia (16) Missouri (10) Alaska (3) Maine 2 (1) |
| Safe Trump – Swing State | 35 | Alabama (9) South Carolina (9) Louisiana (8) Kansas (6) Montana (3) |
| Safe Trump | 77 |
Better results for Trump over the past two days, and we still have to see if the Debate performance also leads to a increase in his support. Expect to see some tightening of the race from now till polling day as the reality of the Election makes voters crystalise their partisanship.
Biden is still in a commanding lead – on just the safe States alone he has 273 Electoral College votes, enough for him to lose everything else and still win. With strong positions in Texas and Florida as well, the Democrats are currently set to regain the White House.
Ten days to go though…..
| State | Status | Prob Biden Win | Commentary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Safe Trump | 0% | No new polling |
| Alaska | Strong Trump | 20.3% | No new polling |
| Arizona | Soft Biden (Strong Biden) | 69.3% | Trump continues to pick up support |
| Florida | Strong Biden (Safe Biden) | 93.9% | Biden still with a good lead, but some better figures for Trump |
| Georgia | Strong Trump (Soft Trump) | 8.9% | Trump’s recovery here continues |
| Iowa | Tie (Strong Biden) | 54.9% | Iowa is now neck and neck |
| Kansas | Safe Trump | 1.3% | New polling confirms Trump’s position |
| Louisiana | Safe Trump | 0.6% | No new polling |
| Maine 2 | Soft Trump | 35.1% | No new polling |
| Michigan | Safe Biden | 99.7% | Biden back in strong control here |
| Minnesota | Safe Biden | 100% | Continues to show good polling for Biden |
| Missouri | Safe Trump | 0% | No new polling |
| Montana | Safe Trump | 0% | New polling confirms clear Trump lead |
| Nebraska 2 | Safe Biden | 98.9% | No new polling |
| Nevada | Strong Biden | 87.9% | No new polling |
| North Carolina | Strong Biden (Safe Biden) | 71.9% | One of the few States where polling indicates Trump is making some ground against Biden |
| Ohio | Strong Trump | 21.4% | No new polling |
| Pennsylvania | Safe Biden | 100% | Further polling confirms Biden’s safety here |
| South Carolina | Safe Trump | 0.5% | No new polling |
| Texas | Strong Biden | 79.1% | No new polling in past two days |
| Virginia | Safe Biden | 100% | Continued strong polling for Biden |
| Wisconsin | Safe Biden | 98.8% | Continued clear water for Biden |
Probability of Biden Winning State
Presidential Election Forecast Philosophy
Our US Presidential Election forecast is based on polling in individual states. We run a monte-carlo simulation across the entire country and then calculate the probability of each candidate winning each state or electoral district (in the case of Maine and Nebraska). From this we allocate Electoral College votes State by State giving a final total for each candidate.
Do you allocate whole States / Districts to Candidates?
As we approach Election Day, our Nowcast now moves to a full Monte Carlo simulation of the whole country. From this Nowcast onwards our seat forecast is based on allocating the total EC votes for each State / District to the candidate who “wins” in the simulation. From this we produce a probability distribution of likely outcomes.
What do you mean by Strong / Safe / Soft?
We allocate a State a grade on the following basis
Safe – 95% or greater chance of winning or all State’s EC votes allocated to one candidate in EC allocation
Strong – 70% to 95% chance of winning
Soft – 55% to 70% chance of winning
Tie – Less that 55% chance of winning for either candidate
Sites like FiveThirtyEight have a higher probability of Trump winning. What are you doing wrong?
Nothing! 538 uses a different methodology than we do and they are also producing a forecast of polling day, whereas we issue NowCasts (what the result would be today).
Can you tell me what the probability of a certain event happening is?
Sure. We provide the most interesting probabilites above, but it’s easy to calculate things like how likely Biden is to win Texas, Ohio and Florida (16.1% as of this morning). Leave a comment below if there is a particular probability you want us to share with you.