2020 Elections: Morning Recap

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This information is current as of 8:00 a.m. Eastern. 

The information below reflects current data with many elections yet to be finalized and some that may be subject to runoffs or legal challenges.

Key Developments

  • Neither President Trump nor Joe Biden have secured the 270 electoral votes required to be elected president.
  • With six Senate races yet to be decided, both the Republicans and Democrats hold 47 seats. Democrats have a net gain of one seat at this time and need to gain four seats to replace Republicans as the majority in the U.S. Senate.
  • Democrats will retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives even though several House races are yet to be finalized.

Presidential Election

  • While President Trump declared in remarks last night that he has won re-election, neither he nor Joe Biden have secured 270 electoral votes required to be elected president. Currently, Biden leads Trump 224 – 213, with nine states yet to be determined.
  • The results are not final for the following nine states, which represent a total of 102 electoral votes at stake:
    • Pennsylvania (20)
    • Michigan (16)
    • Georgia (16)
    • North Carolina (15)
    • Wisconsin (10)
    • Arizona (11) – Several networks, but not all, have called Arizona for Biden.
    • Nevada (10)
    • Alaska (3)
    • Maine 2nd District (1)
  • It will likely be days before all votes are counted and potentially weeks of legal wrangling before all election results are certified. By law, we will know by December 14, 2020 when the electors meet in Washington to be counted and the Presidential election is finalized.

U.S. Senate

  • In 2020, there were 35 U.S. Senate seats up for consideration with the Republicans holding a three-vote majority. Prior to the elections, Republicans held 23 of the 35 seats.
  • As of 8:00 a.m. on November 4, 17 of these have been finalized. Currently, both parties hold 47 seats, which is a net gain of one seat for the Democrats.
  • Senate races in the following states are yet to be "called":
    • Alaska
    • Georgia (two seats)
    • Maine
    • Michigan
    • North Carolina
  • Republicans currently hold four of the six Senate seats for which a winner has yet to be declared.

U.S. House of Representatives

  • Entering the November 3 elections, Democrats held a 232 – 197 majority (with five vacancies and one Independent).
    • To regain control of the House, Republicans would need to gain 16 seats.
    • Several key "hot races" have been called:
      • SC 01 – Flipped – Nancy Mace (R)
        • Incumbent beat: Joe Cunningham (D)
      • OK 05 – Flipped – Stephanie Bice (R)
        • Incumbent beat: Kendra Horn (D)
      • FL 27 – Flipped – Maria Elvira Salazar (R)
        • Incumbent beat: Donna Shalala (D)
      • FL 26 – Flipped – Carlos Gimenez (R)
        • Incumbent beat: Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D)
      • MN 07 – Flipped – Michelle Fischbach (R)
        • Incumbent beat: Collin Peterson (D)
      • NM 02 – Flipped – Yvette Herrell (R)
        • Incumbent beat: Xochitl Torres Small (D)
  • Currently, Democrats have won 189 seats and Republicans have won 181 seats. There are 66 seats yet to be finalized.

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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