Last night, millions of Americans joined together to watch the results of the 2020 general election. The country has been anticipating this election for over a year now, but the events surrounding the election have created unprecedented circumstances. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more people have voted via absentee ballot than ever before. Because of this, battleground states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina will have to wait for their full results until several days after the election. Both states extended their deadlines for mail-in ballots to allow those postmarked by Nov. 3 to be counted. Nevada also announced that they will not be releasing their final results until this Thursday. Additionally, the number of people early voting amid the pandemic has increased. For example, Florida and North Carolina have surpassed their 2016 average voter turnout.
Below is a list of major election results and events nationwide. In North Carolina, it is important to note that the districts have recently been redrawn due to former gerrymandering, so this is the first general election that will take place with the new maps.
Presidential
At the time that this article was published, former Vice President Joe Biden holds a narrow majority with 238 electoral votes and 50.1% of the popular vote. President Donald Trump has 213 electoral votes and 48.2% of the popular votes. Trump leads in North Carolina with 50.1% of the votes. Biden is trailing at 48.7% with a difference of just under 100,000 votes. With North Carolina accepting mail-in ballots until Nov. 12, the final results of this race may not become evident for a while.
Historically Republican leaning, North Carolina has become increasingly competitive in recent years. Considered a key battleground state, President Donald Trump won it in 2016, but the Biden campaign has been hoping to turn the state blue in the 2020 election. The state’s recent voting patterns indicate a national trend towards polarization, with cities swinging further toward the Democrats and rural areas toward the Republicans.
NC Governor
Roy Cooper was re-elected for a second term, beating Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest in his gubernatorial bid.
U.S. House of Representatives
David Price was re-elected as the District 4 (Northern Wake, Durham, Orange County) for his 13th term. Deborah Ross secured the open District 2 seat (Raleigh and Southern Wake). Ross previously served as representative for the 34th and 38th districts in the North Carolina General Assembly. Kathy Manning secured the open District 6 seat (Greensboro).
U.S. Senate
North Carolina’s senate race was highly contentious. Thom Tillis currently leads with 48.7% of the vote and Cal Cunningham has 46.9%. Though Tillis has declared victory, this race has yet to be officially called.
NC Election Highlights
- Raleigh voters approved an $80 million housing bond referendum
- Republican Madison Cawthorn won the open U.S. House seat in District 11 and will be one of the youngest people to hold office at age 25
- Republican Mark Robinson was elected, making him North Carolina’s first Black lieutenant governor
- Republicans maintained their state house and senate majority
National Election Highlights
- Tommy Tuberville beat incumbent Sen. Doug Jones in Alabama’s senate race, flipping the seat to a Republican
- In Georgia, Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Raphael Warnock will face off again in January in a runoff election
- Sen. Mitch McConnell won his re-election race in Kentucky after a tight race with Amy McGrath
- Colorado voters rejected a proposition to ban abortions after 22 weeks
- A federal judge ordered the U.S. Postal Service to do a full sweep of their facilities for the more than 300,000 mail-in ballots not yet accounted for, but the postal service ignored this
- Sarah McBride of Delaware became the first openly transgender state senator in the history of the U.S.
As the nation is on the brink of a revolutionary election, seeking out information from trustworthy sources, such as state and local election officials, will help to verify claims and statements reported by journalists from various news outlets. For more information about results and percentage breakdowns, visit the NC State Board of Elections website or The Associated Press and NPR for national results.
By Aminah Jenkins, Staff Writer, and Hannah Taib, Contributing Writer