• Election Day is just two days away.
• Harris and Trump are campaigning in swing states and making their final appeals to voters.
• The results could reveal a historic gender divide, with economics and abortion posing major concerns.

With Election Day on Tuesday, the end of a contentious US presidential election campaign between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is in sight.

More than 68 million Americans have already cast their votes, an impressive number that shows the high interest and high stakes in a contest that has had more twists and turns than any other presidential campaign in recent memory.

Throughout the campaign, Trump benefited from concerns about the economy, which is always a top issue for voters. When President Joe Biden was the presumptive Democratic nominee, this was his greatest vulnerability, despite low unemployment and steady job gains following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inflation has driven much of voters' concerns about the economy. Although wages have risen in recent years, higher prices are impacting the finances of millions of people.

After Biden withdrew as the nominee in July and Harris became the Democratic Party's standard-bearer, she immediately focused on the issue, pledging to fight price gouging and unveil her own comprehensive economic plan.

It didn't take long for Harris to begin narrowing the gap between the Democrats and the GOP in the presidential race.

Now, in the final days, the race remains close, with both candidates virtually tied in swing states as they make their final voter appeals.

The contested states remain close to each other

Harris' clearest path to 270 electoral votes – and an overall victory – is to capture all the Democratic strongholds and all the blue-leaning states while winning Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District.

Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin form a crucial core of the “blue wall” of states that supported Democratic presidential candidates from 1992 to 2012 but have been less reliable for Democrats more recently.

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The three states — which both Harris and Trump have crisscrossed in their search for votes — include urban, suburban and rural areas that will be crucial for any candidate in the race.

(Pennsylvania offers 19 electoral votes, while Michigan has 15 and Wisconsin 10. Nebraska's 2nd electoral vote offers one vote, which could be crucial for Harris.)

In 2016, Trump broke the blue wall and won all three states, making inroads among working-class voters who had previously supported former President Barack Obama, including a critical bloc of independents and union leaders.

But in 2020, Biden brought the blue wall states back into the Democratic fold, but only just. This year, Biden also won Nebraska's Omaha-based 2nd District, and recent polls suggest Harris may actually have an advantage there as well.

Harris has focused much of her energy on those states, where she needs to perform well to counter Trump's stronger standing in the Sun Belt.

The Sun Belt States

When Trump ran against Biden, he appeared to have the advantage of winning Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina. But Harris' candidacy activated young and minority voters who were unenthusiastic about Biden and allowed her to expand the Democratic map.

This keeps the Sun Belt states competitive. Republicans appear to have gained a lead in early voting in Nevada. However, Election Day voter turnout and the direction of remaining mail-in ballots remain unclear.

Sun Belt voters have focused on the economy and immigration, two issues that benefit Trump. But Harris has managed to get closer to Trump on economic issues while polling well on issues like abortion, democracy and support for the middle class.

We could see a historic gender gap

Shortly before Biden left the race, he had a small lead among women, while Trump did significantly better among male voters.

However, with Harris as the Democratic nominee — and the possibility for the United States to elect its first-ever female president — the country is likely to see a historically wide gender gap once all votes are counted.

Harris's robust womanhood is due in part to abortion rights.

In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade up and sent the abortion issue back to the states. Millions of women now live in states with near-total bans on abortion, while millions of other women live in states that have strengthened abortion rights.

In the final days of the race, Harris has emphasized the issue heavily, which has also helped Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections.

Meanwhile, Trump has appeared on podcasts that target conservative-leaning male listeners and appears to have drawn significant support from young black and Latino men, according to polls.

The huge gender gap is highlighted in a recent top national survey.

A New York Times/Siena College poll of likely voters conducted in late October showed Trump leading Harris by 14 points among men (55% to 41%), while Harris had a 12-point lead over Trump among women (54% to 41%) % to 42%) had . Overall, the poll showed the race was a tie, with the candidates each receiving 48% of respondents.