swing state

American  

[swing steyt] / ˈswɪŋ ˌsteɪt /

noun

U.S. Politics.

1. a state of the U.S. in which the Democratic and Republican candidates both have a good chance of winning and that is considered key to the outcome of a presidential election.

   the swing states of Ohio and Indiana.

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Etymology

Origin of swing state

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

swing state

The U.A.E. was a geopolitical swing state worth bringing further into the American orbit, they argued.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

"They know Rome wasn't built in a day," Vance said in the key, blue-collar swing state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

From Barron's ● Dec. 17, 2025

Pennsylvania’s status as the preeminent swing state is also why election watchers around the country had been eagerly anticipating Tuesday’s result—looking to it as a bellwether for bigger contests to follow.

From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2025

Some other polling has suggested a similar shift in places such as Kansas, Nebraska and Ohio, he said, but the trend has not necessarily been showing up in swing state polling.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2024

“The best avatar for a voter writ large is a woman in a swing state who didn’t go to college,” says pollster Evan Roth Smith, from Blueprint, a Democratic public opinion research company.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2024