So, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be President and Vice President, respectively. The results were announced November 7th, 4 days after election day. Due to the pandemic, there was a substantial increase in mail-in ballots that needed to be counted by hand which meant that the results were not as fast as we as a nation have come to expect. Tensions over those 4 days were high as Biden and Trump were neck and neck in key states like Georgia and Pennsylvania.
This election is important and history is being made. Joe Biden has received more votes than any other candidate in history, with over 75 million, which demonstrates how more Americans have turned out to vote in this election than ever before. Kamala Harris is also making history as the first ever woman-identifying Vice President elect, as well as the first Indian-American and African-American VP elect.
There are some other candidates whose election has made history. Sarah McBride (D-Delaware) will be the nation’s first transgender state Senator. The House of Representatives welcomes the first non-binary legislator in history, Mauree Turner who is also Oklahoma’s first Muslim lawmaker. New York elected America’s first congressman who identifies as Black and Gay. New Mexico presents an all-woman-of-color congressional delegation. This increase in diversity is a big win for the United States.
Though there are several congressional elections still in progress, the Democrats have won the house with 219 (218 indicates majority). The Republicans currently have 202 seats confirmed. Going into the election, Democrats held a majority of 232 seats and the Republicans 197, so their majority is decreasing.
At the time of this article, the senate race shows Republicans leading with 50 seats and Democrats with 46. There are two runoff elections in Georgia, which means that in both elections neither candidate received over 50% of the votes. This election is important to determine whether or not Republicans will have the majority of representation in the senate.
One state passed a ballot that is drawing national attention: Oregon. This west coast state has voted to decriminalize possession of drugs like heroin, oxycodone, and meth. Instead of jail time? Individuals found in possession of these drugs will be able to pay either a $100 fine or enter addiction treatment.
In South Carolina, the senatorial election was between incumbent Lindsey Graham (R) and Jaime Harrison (D). Though Jaime Harrison did have a strong campaign with support from the Black community, especially Black women, 96% of whom voted for Harrison, Graham won the election with 54.5% of the votes compared to Harrison’s 44.2%. SC is sending 6 Republicans and 1 Democrat to the House of Representatives. District 2, the district that Columbia is in, elected incumbent Joe Wilson who received 55.7% of the vote, beating Adair Boroughs.
As this article is being written, there are still several states whose senators and representatives have not been called, meaning that who has control of the senate and the house is still up in the air.