The presidential race is a process that starts when candidates from the two main political parties the Democrats and Republicans begin to campaign. They travel to states and cities gaining support from voters and also raising money for their campaigns. They participate in televised debates where they are asked questions about their positions and policies. They must answer those questions in a way that is clear and convincing to voters. The process ends when the final candidate for each party is selected at a national convention.
The candidates then go on to the general election where people vote for a president and vice president. The winner of the most votes in the Electoral College becomes the president. Each state gets a certain number of electoral votes based on their representation in Congress. Each state selects its own electors, but in the general election the candidates are competing for votes from all of the states, including those that lean strongly one way or another. These are known as battleground or swing states.
Polls conducted in the weeks before the election showed Harris and Trump in a close race nationally and in many of these battleground or swing states. The election results confirmed this and demonstrated that a presidential win is not necessarily tied to a majority of the popular vote.
There are other important factors that determine whether a new president can implement enduring changes in policy and politics. One of the most important is the size of the margin of victory in the Electoral College.