Jacob Gutridge

Editor-in-Chief

It was an excruciating wait. Biden was seemingly leading in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Nevada, but the race was too close to call. It took until the Saturday after Election Tuesday before the New York Times, Associated Press and Fox News reached the same conclusion: Biden beat Trump.

It was Pennsylvania, and its 20 Electoral College votes, that clinched the victory for former Vice President Joe Biden against President Donald Trump. But by Monday morning, Biden was also leading in Arizona and Georgia, two states that would have catapulted Biden to the White House.

It is worth noting that Trump won Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in 2016 against former Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Biden is on track to win all those states against Trump in 2020.

Assuming that Biden does win in Arizona and Georgia, Biden will receive an estimated 306 Electoral College votes, well over the 270 required to clinch the presidency. Biden has also secured the popular vote by a hefty margin.

While many have already congratulated President-elect Biden, including former Republican President George W. Bush, as of Monday morning Trump had not actually conceded the election. Trump and his supporters claim there was widespread voter fraud across the country, and that Biden was trying to “steal” the election. Trump has not produced any concrete evidence supporting these claims, but his legal team said they will keep pursuing these allegations.

Republicans are split on whether to congratulate Biden or stand behind Trump. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said on Sunday that he still believed the president had “a path to victory” and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell supported Trump’s refusal to concede saying that Trump was “100 percent within his rights” to challenge the outcome. Only a couple well known Republicans in Congress have congratulated Biden, including Senators Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Biden won the election alongside Senator Kamala Harris. Vice President-elect Harris has made history as the first woman, the first woman of color, the first woman of South Asian descent and the first daughter of immigrants to be elected vice president. When Harris stepped on stage in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday to give her victory speech, she said, “[w]hile I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last.”

“Every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities,” said Harris. “And to the children of our country regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: dream with ambition, lead with conviction and see yourself in a way that others may not simply because they have never seen it before. But know that we will applaud you every step of the way.”

Harris recognized the weight and historical importance of the night by wearing a white pantsuit—a nod to the suffragettes—with a white silk pussy-bow blouse—a nod to the uniform of the women entering the workforce in the 20th-century.

“I am thinking about the generations of women—Black women, Asian, White, Latina, Native American women, who throughout our nation’s history have paved the way for this moment tonight,” said Harris. “Women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality and liberty and justice for all, including  the Black women who are so often overlooked, but so often prove they are the backbone of our democracy.”

Visitors to the grave of Susan B. Anthony in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York, marked the occasion by covering the suffragette’s tombstone in “I Voted” stickers.

Harris alluded to what her role as vice president will be in the Biden White House, stating she wanted to be a vice president to Biden as he was to former President Barack Obama, but it is unclear if she will be charged with pursuing any specific policy agenda while in office.

Biden and Harris have promised that they would be ready to immediately start addressing four main priorities in the hours following their inauguration on Jan. 20: COVID-19, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change.

According to the website outlining Biden’s transition plan, “President-elect Biden believes that the federal government must act swiftly and aggressively to help protect and support our families, small businesses, first responders and caregivers essential to help us face this challenge [COVID-19], those who are most vulnerable to health and economic impacts, and our broader communities—not to blame others or bail out corporations.”

While Biden won the popular vote across the United States, voters in Idaho strongly supported Trump. Winning 63.1% of all the votes in Idaho, Trump easily carried all four of Idaho’s Electoral College votes—Biden won the other 33.1%. Trump won 58.7% of the votes in Bannock County—Biden won the other 33.1%. Biden only won three counties in Idaho: Blaine, Latah and Teton County.

Idaho re-elected Republican Senator Jim Risch, who beat Democratic candidate Paulette Jordan by over 250,000 votes. Republican Congressman Russ Fulcher won Idaho’s First Congressional District and Republican Congressman Mike Simpson won Idaho’s Second Congressional District.

Bannock County voters were also asked whether they supported studying the possible merger between Pocatello and Chubbuck: 46.6% voted “Yes” and 53.4% voted “No”.

As President-elect Biden starts his transition to the White House, the United States is still deeply divided. During his victory speech in Wilmington, Biden conveyed a message of unity, built on his campaign to “restore the soul of this nation.” Biden says he will be a president to “all Americans” stating, “I represent all of you whether you voted for me or against me.”

“I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but to unify; who doesn’t see red states or blue states, only sees the United States,” said Biden. “[I will] work with all my heart with the confidence of the whole people, to win the confidence of all you. And for that is what American—I believe—is about. It is about people and that’s what our administration will be all about.”