Joe Biden has won the 2020 presidential election, winning 306 electoral votes to President Trump’s 232. Biden received over 51% of the popular vote and nearly 80 million votes, while Trump received 47% and around 74 million votes. Many Americans and MHS students alike anxiously awaited the election results, as the ballots took much longer to count because of the record number of mail-in and early ballots due to the pandemic. At MHS, the Advisory period during election week was even devoted to talking about students’ election anxiety. The election was finally called on Saturday 11/7, several days after Election Day, and Biden was declared the winner. While a few certifications and court challenges from the Trump administration are still pending, as of now it appears unlikely that the election result will change. However, Trump has yet to concede the election to Biden and still is pursuing legal challenges. 

This election was historic for many reasons. Kamala Harris is the first woman to be elected vice president of the United States, and her achievement inspires women of all political beliefs. Harris also will be the first Black and Asian vice president. Additionally, about 160 million people voted in the 2020 presidential election, the highest number in American history. Voter turnout reached over 65%, the highest in more than a century. Both parties were able to energize their bases to go out and vote. Biden won more votes than any other winning presidential candidate has in American history, but Trump also received the most votes a losing presidential candidate has ever won. Biden is also the oldest person ever to win the presidency.

The congressional races are also still on many students’ minds, as the final composition of the Senate is still unknown. Currently, Republicans have 50 members and Democrats have 48, with the Democrats gaining one seat overall. However, two Georgia run-off races will happen on January 5 that will determine which party has the majority. Georgia law states that if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote (which happened this year), the two candidates who received the most votes will run again in special run-off elections. Republicans need to win just one of these races to secure their majority, while Democrats need to win both to make it 50-50. The Vice President acts as the tiebreaker in the Senate, so a 50-50 split would give Democrats the majority. In the House of Representatives, Democrats still maintain a narrow majority, though the Republicans gained 8 seats.