It remains uncertain which candidate will be the next President of the United States as President Trump and former Vice President Biden each have paths available to them to reach the 270 electoral votes required to serve as the next president.
Even if post-election litigation challenging the results were not to ensue, it could be several days before the final results are determined in the seven states that have not yet been called. (Alaska, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.) However, in a speech at 2:30 a.m. ET this morning, President Trump claimed victory and said that he would have his lawyers go to the Supreme Court seeking to prohibit the counting of ballots that have not yet been tabulated in the states that have not been called.
Having lost a seat in Alabama, the Democrats currently have achieved a net gain of one Senate seat, picking up GOP held seats in Arizona and Colorado. Six Senate races remain to be called – Alaska, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and a January 5th runoff for at least one, and possibly two Georgia seats. Finally, it appears that when all the House races are finally called, House Republicans will pick up three or four seats despite the forecast of several pollsters that House Democrats would expand their majority by at least 5-10 seats or as many as 20-25 seats on a good night.
The election results clearly indicate that there were significant problems with both state level and some national polling by Democrats and that those who had predicted a “Blue Wave” election were sorely mistaken. It’s unclear whether these problems stemmed from the unwillingness of Trump voters to share their voting intentions with pollsters, whether the problems were with the polling methods used, or some combination of both. Whatever the reasons, many Democrats will be seeking an explanation and demanding an autopsy. We will update this report later today and periodically thereafter as additional races are called.
To catch up on previous election updates, visit our 2020 Presidential Election page here.
