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Trump received the most votes of any Republican presidential candidate ever
(Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)
With more than 62.8 million votes, President-elect Donald Trump accumulated more support in a presidential election than any Republican candidate before him.
Trump received more votes than the party's previous two leading vote-receiving nominees, George W. Bush in 2004 and Mitt Romney in 2012. Bush received more than 62 million votes, while Romney won more than 60.9 million votes.
This year's result can be partially attributed to a growing population.
Though he won the Electoral College, Trump trails Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes. She recently surpassed 65.5 million votes, which are still being counted, behind only President Barack Obama's 2008 and 2012 totals of nearly 69.5 million and 65.9 million.
As a result, Trump's share of the popular vote is 46.2%, lower than that of past GOP nominees Romney, Bush, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford.
Trump also received the most Republican primary votes of any GOP candidate in history.
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