In this Aug. 12, 2020, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., pass each other as Harris moves to the podium to speak during a campaign event at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Del. Harris made history Saturday, Nov. 7, as the first Black woman elected as vice president of the United States, shattering barriers that have kept men — almost all of them white — entrenched at the highest levels of American politics for more than two centuries. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
By Sean Yoes
AFRO Senior Reporter
More than 72 hours after the last polls closed on Nov. 3, the Associated Press declared former Vice-President Joseph R. Biden the next President-Elect of the United States.
Biden clinched the Electoral College vote by officially winning his birth state of Pennsylvania at just passed 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 7, by a margin of more than 34,400 votes and counting over Donald John Trump. According to the Associated Press Biden has captured 290 electoral votes (passed the 270 electoral votes needed to win), to Trump’s 214 electoral votes. Trump, who has tossed out several baseless claims of election fraud, has not conceded the election and vows to fight on, although to what end is unclear. He received the news of his defeat on his golf course in Sterling, Va.
Biden, in his third presidential campaign garnered the most presidential votes in the country’s history with more than 74,478,533 votes and counting. The victory was also historic because Biden’s running mate California Sen. Kamala Harris will be the nation’s first woman, first Black and first woman of Southeast Asian ancestry to become vice-president of the United States.
After the Biden/Harris victory was announced spontaneous celebrations broke out in cities across the nation including most notably in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. and in Washington Square Park and Times Square in New York City.
The Biden/Harris victory was propelled greatly by the Black vote in several large cities: Atlanta, Milwaukee, Detroit and Philadelphia. The vote in Atlanta and several surrounding counties gave Georgia to a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since President Bill Clinton in 1992. Yet, the margin of victory is less than 10,000 votes and the state is most likely headed for a recount of votes. The state has not been officially declared for Biden. The city of Milwaukee helped propel Biden over the top in Wisconsin in another tight race, 49.6%, to 48.9%. A massive Black voter turnout in Detroit fueled the Democratic victory in Michigan by a larger margin 50.6%, to 47.9%. And the mail-in vote in Philadelphia, which has taken days to count, helped pull the Biden/Harris ticket out of a massive election day hole of more than 500,000 votes in favor of Trump. But, day by day, hour by hour as the mail-in vote was tallied Biden chipped away at Trump’s lead until he surpassed him. Many political observers are projecting Biden will ultimately receive 306 electoral votes, to Trump’s 232 electoral votes, the exact margin Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by in 2016. Biden and Harris are expected to address the nation this evening in Biden’s home state in Wilmington, Delaware.
