Senate
Long feared as a potential bloodbath for incumbent Republicans, Democrats failed to achieve wave status in 2020 and it appears as though Republicans will maintain a narrow majority. With the chamber tied 48-48 as of Wednesday morning, races in Alaska, Georgia (2), and North Carolina have yet to be called but appear to be settling Republican. Democrats managed to topple Republican incumbents in AZ and CO (McSally and Gardner), but lost Doug Jones seat in AL, failed to knock off Susan Collins (R) in ME, and won a close <1% race against John James in MI.
House
Republicans greatly outperformed expectations in the House of Representatives. With more than 50 races still uncalled as of early Wednesday afternoon, House Democrats hoping to grow their majority had failed to defeat a single Republican incumbent. Overall, it appears Republicans are on track to pick up 8-12 seats, as opposed to losing 10-15 as most experts had thought. At home in Texas, Rep. Lizzie Fletcher managed to fend off a solid challenge from veteran Wesley Hunt.
White House
After two days of tense counting and waiting, the 2020 presidential contest has still not yet been called. Upon polls closing Tuesday night, it appeared as though President Trump may route former Vice President Biden, only to lose several key midwestern states upon the addition of absentee ballots in the early hours of Wednesday morning. At this point as of 9am Thursday morning, Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia have yet to be called, but former VP Biden has a comfortable lead that is his to lose. President Trump needs to take back Arizona, as well as hold Pennsylvania and Georgia to keep his hopes of reelection alive. Already the President’s campaign has announced a recount in Wisconsin as well as lawsuits in Nevada, Michigan and other states. We likely will not know the true outcome of the election until next week, as North Carolina counties will be holding absentee ballot review meetings on November 12 and counting additional ballots through the next day. Despite a delayed result, several surprises have already been realized; another massive tranche of polling failures combined with a Hispanic voter-fueled Trump landslide in Florida.
