swing state
noun
plural swing states
US politics
: a U.S. state in which Republican and Democratic candidates have similar levels of support and which is considered to play a key role in the outcome of presidential elections
The politics of immigration in Florida, a key swing state, are not as clear as they are in California.—
Tom Masland et al.
Tom Masland et al.If he is so polarizing, how was he elected five times in a swing state?—Nancy Gibbs et al.
Nancy Gibbs et al.Examples of swing state in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
North Carolina is a swing state and one of the few places in the country with truly competitive races.
—Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 7 July 2025
The bulk of that spending, roughly $239 million, was routed through America PAC, a political action committee founded by Musk that underwrote a sprawling get-out-the-vote effort across the swing states.
—Joe Walsh
july 2, CBS News, 2 July 2025
And the states that would be hit hardest by the bills’ Medicaid cuts include solidly red Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri as well as the critical swing states of Michigan, Arizona and North Carolina.
—Ronald Brownstein, Mercury News, 27 June 2025
The group was founded by former Obama administration staffers, and its ads received over 500 million views across swing states in the 2024 presidential election.
—Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 June 2025
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Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 7 July 2025
The bulk of that spending, roughly $239 million, was routed through America PAC, a political action committee founded by Musk that underwrote a sprawling get-out-the-vote effort across the swing states.
—Joe Walsh
july 2, CBS News, 2 July 2025
And the states that would be hit hardest by the bills’ Medicaid cuts include solidly red Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri as well as the critical swing states of Michigan, Arizona and North Carolina.
—Ronald Brownstein, Mercury News, 27 June 2025
The group was founded by former Obama administration staffers, and its ads received over 500 million views across swing states in the 2024 presidential election.
—Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for swing state
Cite this Entry
“Swing state.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swing%20state. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.
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