Blue wall (United States)

States that consistently vote Democratic in U.S. elections The "blue wall" states all voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every election since 1992, while the light blue states voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024. The blue wall is a term coined in 2009 in the political culture of the United States to refer to the 18 states (along with Washington, D.C.) that consistently voted blue (i.e., for the Democratic Party) in the six consecutive presidential elections from 1992 to 2012. This trend suggested a fundamental dominance in presidential politics for the Democratic Party. Conversely, the terms red wall and red sea are less-commonly used to refer to states that Republicans consistently won in the same time frame. States which have not voted consistently for one party are called purple, or swing states. During the 2016 presidential election, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was considered a heavy favorite to win the electoral college because of this trend, but Republican nominee Donald Trump challenged the strength of the "blue wall" Rust Belt states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which became swing states in the next three elections. The Trump victories