Atlas of the 2020 Elections

Review
Far more than a straight-forward spatial analysis of the vote, this atlas offers telling insights into a wide range of matters pertinent to the 2020 U.S. presidential election: campaign travel and spending patterns, the geographic language used in the debates, regional religious influences on the vote, and much more. The contributors to the atlas comprise a veritable who's who of prominent commentators on politics and electoral geography. Together they have produced a set of essays and maps that make this book an indispensable guide to one of the most consequential presidential elections of our time. -- Alexander B. Murphy, University of Oregon
Many books are called invaluable, but this one is essential. A century or more from now, people will still be talking about the 2020 election. The results were clear—Donald Trump was ousted from the White House and Joe Biden installed—but also controversial and disputed by the losing side, fueling a deeply disturbing insurrection at the U.S. Capitol while the electoral vote was being tabulated on January 6, 2021. Americans need to study this election, and the forces that drove it, because understanding what happened will help us prevent the conditions that fomented a rebellion. The authors do a brilliant job of presenting the data; the volume’s maps are stunning and the analysis insightful. -- Larry J. Sabato, University of Virginia Center for Politics
The authors of the entries in the Atlas of the 2020 Elections offer a unique and welcome contribution to our understanding of the tumultuous events of 2020. Their deft use of maps illuminates the action from multiple geographical perspectives--national, regional, state, county, and city. Their book will serve as valuable primary resource for scholars and students of American electoral politics. -- Gary C. Jacobson, University of California, San Diego
Red and blue have become synonymous with our political parties, and with this, citizens, scholars, and popular observers alike have all become more attuned to the political geography of American elections. Since the 2008 election, the quadrennial Atlas series from Rowman & Littlefield has done much to increase our understanding of this geography and the latest edition on the 2020 election edited by Watrel et al. continues this tradition of excellence. In this book, readers will find informative discussions of topics ranging from campaign dynamics, to historical and spatial analyses, to demographic features of this election, from scholars drawn from a variety of disciplines. The insightful analyses are complemented by extensive maps, tables, and figures. This book is an essential addition to the library of anyone interested in understanding the political geography of one of the most consequential elections in recent decades. -- David Darmofal, University of South Carolina
The importance of America’s distinctive political geography just keeps growing from one election to the next, as our citizens and institutions respond to the surging forces of partisanship and polarization. The comprehensive series of maps and figures packed into the Atlas of the 2020 Elections provide a unique account of a remarkable and historic contest held during an unprecedented moment in history. From election results and candidate visits to campaign donations and congressional roll-call votes, this volume shows that nearly everything in politics has a geographic story behind it that can be best told with the help of a well-drawn map. -- David Hopkins, Boston College
The 2020 presidential election was one of the most historic, contested, and contentious in American history. Joe Biden was the oldest person elected president. Kamala Harris was the first female elected vice president and the first vice president of Black and Asian descent. The primaries, campaigns, and elections were held for the first time amid an international and national pandemic. Despite this, voter turnout was the h