In the context of American politics, a fifty-state strategy is a political strategy which aims for progress in all states of the United States, rather than conceding certain states as "unwinnable". In a presidential campaign, it is usually implemented as an appeal to a broad base of the American public in an attempt to win, even if marginally, every state, since even a marginal victory is effectively a total victory for electoral purposes. It can also refer to an overall long-term strategy for a political movement such as a political party.
This strategy is very ambitious and, when used for a specific election, is typically abandoned as the election day draws nearer. In almost every state winning a state's popular vote for president or senator—even by a small margin—means the state's entire representation in the election goes to the victor without being divided.[a] A fifty-state strategy requires a campaign to spend valuable resources in a rival's strongest states, when those resources could instead be concentrated in swing states that will become a total win or a total loss based on only a small difference in popular votes.
- ^ Russell, George Fabe (October 29, 2024). "Why do Maine and Nebraska split their electoral votes?". USA Today. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
- ^ Rakich, Nathaniel (August 29, 2019). "Georgia Will Now Have Two Senate Elections In 2020". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).