Candidate preference map

These data come from a series of SurveyMonkey polls collected continuously since June 1, 2020, with about 35,000 responses collected every week. Respondents were selected from the more than 2 million people who take surveys on the SurveyMonkey platform each day.

Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the demographic composition of the United States age 18 and over. Depending on the exact visualization and any filters selected, other factors—like vote registration or state—are also taken into account.

Learn more about SurveyMonkey's Methodology

A hex map is ideal for visualizing this data because by equalizing the size and shape of the states, you can more easily focus on the differences across the data. The map is paired with a dumbbell chart, which is itself a version of a dot plot. This chart type that is most effective when showing several different categorical data fields against a single measure.

"We knew we had to use a map to visualize national election data at the state level, but the dramatically different sizes of the states themselves hides what is going on in smaller states. Montana is big, New Jersey is small, but both are equally important to see on the map." —Laura Wronski, Research Science Manager at SurveyMonkey

Learn how to build a Hex Map and Dumbbell Chart in Tableau.