A Recap of Joe Biden's Victory In The 2020 Election

By: Phillip Seo

On Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020, arguably the most consequential presidential election in modern American history was officially on its way. This election had set a precedent as there had never been an election in modern American history that had taken place during a global pandemic ever since the election of 1918. In addition, the election has taken longer than most normal election cycles in recent memory to count the votes and project a winner due to the record number of mail-in ballots that were cast in this election due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This election cycle has been very unusual compared to other elections in modern American history, has tested the patience of many as everyone has been desperate to find out the results of the election as quickly and efficiently as possible, and has ultimately made history in American politics. 

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Democrats were hopeful that the 2020 election would bring a “blue wave” along with it. A blue wave refers to the Democrats having the highest voter turnout ever of any election that has come forth in modern American history, being able to flip more seats in the House of Representatives to further boost their majority, regaining the majority in the Senate, and ultimately winning the presidency and defeating President Trump. 

As the votes were starting to get counted on election day, Biden’s campaign team was hoping that he would be able to take an early lead in the race for 270 electoral votes by taking the battleground states of Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Iowa, and possibly even Texas. In addition, Biden’s campaign team was extremely nervous about whether he would be able to reflip the midwest battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania back into the Democrats’ favor. These three states were extremely paramount to win as they cost Hillary Clinton the presidential race back in the 2016 election and if Biden could win back these states, it would put a huge dent into President Trump’s plans for his reelection. 

By the end of election day, it was looking very grim for the Biden team as President Trump had been projected to win many of the states that Biden was hoping to win such as Florida, Texas, Iowa, and Ohio. In addition, Trump was leading in the crucial battleground states of the midwest which included Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, which were crucial in order for Biden to win the presidency. Many Democrats feared that the 2020 election night would be reminiscent of the 2016 election in which President Trump would win again and bring a huge upset to the Democrats’ hopes of winning the presidency and gaining control of the government. 

However, the mail-in ballots for each of these states had not started to be counted yet and there was a significant number of votes left to be counted, so there was still hope for Biden to win these states and the presidency. As the following day approached, the states were starting to be in Biden’s favor as the mail in votes were starting to be counted and the majority of mail-in votes were predicted to be from the Democratic voters. Biden hoped that there would be enough votes for him to be able to reflip the states to blue. 

On the morning after election day, news stations projected that Biden would win Michigan and Wisconsin giving Biden a significant lead in electoral votes over President Trump. This victory gave Biden a massive advantage over President Trump as Biden now only had to win the state of Pennsylvania with its 20 electoral votes in order to cross the threshold of 270 electoral votes to declare victory or win a combination of Arizona with its 11 electoral votes and Nevada with its 6 electoral votes. The victory was also significant because Biden was able to rebuild the “blue wall” by reclaiming these states for the Democrats and these states could be potentially crucial for Democrats to win in future elections. 

The states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, and Georgia were too close to call and the results were getting updated at an extremely slow pace as the states wanted to ensure that the election process would be carried accurately and effectively. There were no new projections made for either Biden or President Trump for a couple of days after election day and all of America and the entire world was growing impatient and desperate to find out the outcome of the election. 

Early in the morning on November 7th, 2020, news stations projected that Biden would win the commonwealth state of Pennsylvania, allowing him to cross the threshold of 270 electoral votes needed to ultimately win the presidency. The Biden team was ecstatic and relieved at the same time and Biden supporters of all sorts including Democrats, Republicans, and Independents across the country came together and were celebrating with enjoyment and cheering with glee in 

crowds of hundreds. 

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One the other hand, Trump supporters were infuriated by the projections, declared that the election process was rigged and stolen, and protested across the country for recounts, stopping counts, and ensuring that every vote was counted depending on the state. The Trump administration has declared lawsuits about the election in order to potentially alter the results of the election into his favor, but the administration’s attempts have been blocked by state level courts and were unsuccessful. The Trump administration and the Biden campaign team are still in the midst of the legal battle involving the security and accuracy of the election, but due to the Trump administration’s unsuccessful legal challenges, it seems that Former Vice President Joseph Robinette Biden will become the 46th president of the United States. 

On November 13th, 2020, after the election was already called for Joe Biden, it was projected that the last uncalled state of Georgia would be Joe Biden’s to win. Joe Biden’s presidential victory is historic as he is the first Democrat in 28 years to win the state of Georgia since Former President Bill Clinton won the state in 1992. In addition, he is the first Democratic president to win the state of Arizona which was generally a Republican stronghold since Former President Bill Clinton barely won the state in 1996. Furthermore, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, will be the first woman, first Black American, and the first South Asian American to be Vice President of the United States which will make history and change American politics forever. She will be an inspiration for all sorts of different Americans who aspire to become involved in the political landscape. Not to mention, Joe Biden will be the oldest president in United States history to be elected into office.

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