New York Has A Lot Of Electors — And That Matters

When voters head to the polls on Nov. 8, they will be casting ballots to nominate electors. Electors act as middlemen between the voter and his/her presidential choice, as the United States is not a direct democracy. Each state is allotted a certain number of electors, based on population. It's no surprise, then, that New York ties for the third-largest electoral haul, with 29 electors in total.

Like most states, New York awards its electors in "winner-take-all" fashion. This means that no matter how slim the victory, all electors will be pledged to the state winner. This helps explain why swing states get so much attention during the presidential election — all of their votes will go to the victor, even if he/she wins by a tiny margin.

New York is not that type of state. It hasn't elected a Republican presidential nominee since Ronald Reagan ran the proverbial tables back in 1984. (Reagan won 49 of 50 states, one of the largest electoral victories in American history.) After 32 years voting Democratic, New York shows no signs of turning Red any time soon, which means Hillary Clinton could add New York's 29 electoral votes to her column.

The state with the most electoral votes is California, another Democratic stronghold. California has 55 electors, and they could also be going to Clinton on Nov. 8. Texas has the second-most, with 38 electoral votes. However, the Lone Star State is a reliable Republican win. Texas hasn't voted for a Democrat in a presidential election since 1976.

Any brief look into the electoral college system and it becomes obvious why swing states get all the attention. The climb to 270 electoral votes is really more of a scramble for the final dozen or so, as both the Democrat and Republican candidates "start out" with hundreds of votes pretty much guaranteed. New York's 29 electors are Example A, all but promised to Clinton before the campaign even began.