SWING STATES ARE TOO CLOSE TO CALL
NOT OVER » FOCUS ON PENNSYLVANIA, MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN WHAT’S NEXT » BIDEN PREDICTS WIN AS TRUMP CLAIMS ‘FRAUD’
In a tense night that could signal days of uncertainty ahead, the election between President Trump and challenger Joe Biden remained too close to call late Tuesday, with Americans coasttocoast mesmerized by the fate of a country riven by disease and disagreement.
One thing was certain: Voters turned out in record numbers. And while roughly 100 million ballots were cast early, Trump supporters showed up in force to vote in person Tuesday, creating unpredictability and a dramatic electoral map as results rolled in.
Once again, all eyes were on Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. And in a startling address, well past 2 a.m. at the White House, Trump insisted falsely “we already have won” and called on the vote counting to stop.
Despite trailing in the polls for weeks, Trump was clinging to narrow leads in all three of those key battleground states, and foiled Democrats hopes for an upset in Florida and Texas — must wins for the president’s path to re- election. But Biden and his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, were leading in Arizona and trailing by only razorthin margins in North Carolina and Georgia, three states that Trump won in his upset over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Californians also were closely watching as doubts grew that a predicted blue wave of discontent with Republican leadership would wash across the country. It would take a shift of four seats in the Senate to give Democrats
control of both houses of Congress for the first time in six years.
While Democrats picked up a Republican seat in Colorado and were leading comfortably in Arizona, Republicans returned the favor in Alabama.
And they won reelection in tight races in Iowa and Montana. But with results still uncertain in key races in Maine and Georgia, the agonizing wait there continued, too.
By 11:30 p.m. California time, Biden held a 224 to 213 lead in the electoral college, according to the New York Times — 270 are required to win the presidency.
“We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election,” Trump tweeted Wednesday night, accusing, without evidence, his opponents of unscrupulous behavior. “We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Poles (sic) are closed!” Both Facebook and Twitter labeled the message misleading.
Hours later, in his address to supporters at the White House, Trump rattled off “phenomenal” results in states he won such as Florida but also claiming he had won in states that are still undecided as votes are being counted.
“This is a fraud,” Trump said, threatening to take the case to the Supreme Court. “This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly we did win this election.”
Biden spent the night in his home state of Delaware with his family and Harris.
With car horns blaring, he told an outdoor rally of supporters past midnight that he was optimistic, but urged them to have patience.
“We feel good about where we are. We really do,” Biden said. “We believe we’re on track to win this election.”
Tuesday’s election culminates one of the most bruising and divisive periods of American politics in generations, ending a campaign roiled by Trump’s impeachment, the deadly coronavirus pandemic and racial justice protests — all fueled by tribalism on social media.
And the lack of clear results left many people anxious and seasoned political experts tongue-tied.
“I’m a nervous wreck. I’m still suffering PTSD from 2016,” said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a longtime political analyst in Los Angeles. “I’ve been nervous for awhile now. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Regardless of the outcome, even amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and economic upheaval, voter turnout surged nationally. At least 100 million voters — more than 70% of the total votes counted in 2016 — cast their ballots early. In California, roughly half of the state’s voters had already weighed in by Monday. Experts like Paul Mitchell of Political Data Inc. said they expected the Golden State to set a record in the coming days for total votes cast.
“What we’ve seen happen here is historic,” said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo. “I just want to bottle it.”
If the Democrats win, Harris’s elevation to vice president- elect would also be a moment for the history books. Born in Oakland and raised in Berkeley, the Democratic senator from California could become not only the first woman, but the first Black and Asian American, vice president-elect — crowning, at age 56, a career marked by a pattern of trailblazing.
If Biden and Harris prevail, they will be under pressure from progressives advocates to push for major action on the pandemic, global warming, health care, the economy and a host of other issues that have largely been sidelined in recent months.
“I think their phrase kind of sums it up: Build back better,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the longtime San Jose Democrat, of the Biden-Harris ticket’s campaign message. “We need to get ahead of the pandemic. We need to get the economy moving again and we need to get the economy moving in a way that is more fair and more inclusive of all Americans.”
One of the most closely watched voting blocs in the race for the White House has been women, especially suburban women. If Democrats win the White House, two Bay Area women would rise to the highest levels of American politics, becoming numbers one and two in line for the presidency. Harris, born and raised in the East Bay, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat who is expected to retain the leadership role after her re-election Tuesday.
“It is a big moment for Bay Area women. It’s a big moment for women generally,” Speier said.
While Biden was the obvious favorite in the blue Bay Area and south in Los Angeles, Trump supporters were still hoping to prove pollsters wrong with a huge turnout on election day to send the president on to a second term.
“I’m still very optimistic… I’m still feeling good,” said Contra Costa County GOP Chair Matt Shupe. “Again, all of the polls were way wrong.”
What all of it will mean remains to be seen.
“It’s going to come down to a very few states,” said Darry Sragow, a longtime Democratic strategist who is no stranger to staying up all night watching returns roll in with the sunrise. “We just don’t know.”