Every four years, the electoral map of the United States appears to shrink as the number of swing states slowly decreases.

This year, however, there will only be seven states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin – in which both candidates have a realistic chance of winning. But over the years, this picture has changed significantly, as every single state has voted for both the Republican and Democratic candidates at least once.

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The only outlier is Washington D.Cwho has consistently supported the Democrats since he first received electoral votes in 1962. The 23rd Amendment gave residents of the capital the ability to vote in the presidential election, but ensured that DC would always have to have fewer electoral votes than any other state. As such, it has just been preserved three electoral college votes in the 16 elections.

When did Alaska vote for Democrats?

Often referred to as the most unshakable state. Alaska has been a Republican lock for decades. Alaska entered the Union in January 1959 and participated in the 1960 presidential election, voting for the Democratic candidate in all but one election.

In 1964 Alaska's votes went to Lyndon Johnson when he routed GOP candidate Barry Goldwater. This remains the only time Alaska has turned blue. For comparison: Donald Trump's victory of ten percentage points in 2020 was the smallest margin of victory since 1992.

Still, that won't be a big problem for Democrats. The sparsely populated state has only three Electoral College votes, making it unlikely to play a key role in the final outcome of the 2024 presidential election.