Harris and Trump compete for voters in seven key states - Media.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have several paths to victory in their attempts to garner 270 electoral votes.

The candidates are focusing on seven key states that are most likely to determine who will become president in November, writes The Hill.

According to the publication, if Harris takes the Rust Belt states - Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and Trump takes the Sun Belt states - Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina, Harris will win with the minimum possible number of electoral votes - 270, against 268 for Trump.

The most optimistic scenario for the Democrats, which certainly seems achievable for Harris, is that she wins the states that President Biden took four years ago and adds one more where he fell short: North Carolina.

Polls seem to indicate that this is at least possible, as Harris either leads slightly or is within reach in all seven states. This is a significant improvement compared to Biden's results at the end of his candidacy when he seemed to lag, especially in the Sun Belt.

If she wins in all seven states, Harris will receive 319 electoral votes, the most for a presidential candidate since then-President Obama's reelection victory in 2012. Trump will trail her by exactly 100 votes - 219.

And chances favor that at least one state will have a different outcome compared to past elections. The same states have never voted for the same party twice in a row throughout U.S. history, although this year such a situation seems somewhat more likely than in other years.

The most decisive for the candidates' chances and the turning point of the election is the state of Pennsylvania.

It has 19 electoral votes, more than any other swing state, and it has attracted the most attention from Trump and Harris. A victory in Pennsylvania would be a great advantage for Harris, especially considering that Michigan and Wisconsin, at least until recently, showed stronger poll results in her favor than in the Keystone State.

But if Harris fails there, she has some other options. Both North Carolina and Georgia have nearly as many electoral votes - 16 each, and Democrats are particularly hopeful of North Carolina as the most likely flip compared to 2020.

If Harris can hold on in Michigan and Wisconsin, and the candidates at least split North Carolina and Georgia, she will need only one of the western states - Arizona or Nevada, with the latter now giving her the best chances.

If Trump wins in Pennsylvania, he will have several paths to reaching 270 votes. The simplest way to do this is to combine Pennsylvania with the two other states that have the most electoral value, Georgia, and North Carolina. This would give him exactly 270 votes.

If Trump wins in all key states, he will win 312 electoral votes to 226 for Harris, making 2024 a larger electoral victory for the winner than Trump's first election in 2016 or his defeat in 2020.