An early look at election results
A man watches results come in on a screen set up at an election night gathering at Independence Mall , Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Michael Perez)
As polls closed Tuesday, the long-awaited results of the 2020 election have only just begun to be tallied up. Americans are left with several big questions, the largest being who won the highly-contested presidential race.
Results for local government
The Tennessee State House election resulted in 68 seats won for Republican candidates, while Democrats won 26 seats. Thus far, six house seat races have yet to be called.
Regardless of how these few undecided races will be called, Democrats have not lost any seats in the Tennessee State House this election, maintaining their previous total of 26 seats to Republicans’ 72.
In Tennessee, 16 of the state’s 33 senate seats were on the ballot yesterday, resulting in wins for 14 Republicans and two Democrats. Of the State Senate races’ winners, all but one race saw the re-election of the incumbent candidate — the District 20 election saw a loss for incumbent Republican Steven Dickerson in favor of Democrat Heidi Campbell.
The final composition of the State Senate following the election is set to be six Democrats and 27 Republicans.
In addition to several local and federal elections involving candidates, voters in Chattanooga also voted on two charter amendments for the city.
Both charter amendments passed; Amendment 1 passed with 55,000 votes, 85% of the vote, and Amendment 2 passed with 50,000 votes, 77% of the vote.
Amendment 1, more formally known as Ordinance No. 13192, alters language present in the Chattanooga city charter to explicitly disqualify a person from running for city office should their political activity interfere with state business or federal law.
Amendment 2, more formally known as Ordinance No. 13555, involves creating a Police Advisory and Review Committee for the City of Chattanooga.
In other local news, Benton, Tennessee Mayor Jerry Stephens died on Election Day at age 80 while seeking re-election. Stephens received 455 votes, beating challenger Randy Yates, who received 220 votes.
Once Benton city commissioners are sworn in, the city commission will appoint a commissioner as mayor.
Congressional race results
This year, Tennessee was among the 33 states that held a race for a Senate seat — Republican candidate Bill Hagerty won 62% of the vote while Democratic candidate Marquita Bradshaw received about 35% of the vote, respectively totaling 1.8 million and 1 million ballots each. Hagerty will fill the seat vacated by Lamar Alexander (R), who is retiring after 18 years in the Senate.
As for Senate races nationwide, both parties stand to possess 47 seats each as of early Wednesday morning. Some Senate seats have flipped party affiliation, such as in Alabama where incumbent Democrat Doug Jones lost to Republican candidate Tommy Tuberville.
Senate races have yet to be called by the Associated Press in Michigan, North Carolina, Alaska and the Georgia Senate race between incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue and Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff.
A special Senate race in Georgia will result in a runoff election in January between incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock, leaving a single Senate seat up for grabs in 2021.
As for House races, Tennessee’s nine districts held elections for House representatives, with only one uncontested race in District 5, resulting in an easy win for incumbent Democrat Jim Cooper.
Save for a Democratic win in District 9 for incumbent Steve Cohen, seven remaining districts voted for Republican representatives.
This includes victories for Republican candidate Diana Harshbarger in District 1, incumbent Tim Burchett in District 2, incumbent Chuck Fleischmann in District 3, incumbent Scott DesJarlais in District 4, incumbent John Rose in District 6, incumbent Mark Green in District 7 and incumbent David Kustoff in District 8.
Democrats are projected to retain their majority in the House, currently holding 181 seats to Republicans’ 174. Still, 218 seats are needed to possess a majority.
The presidential race
In Tennessee, incumbent President Donald Trump won just over 60% of the vote while Former Vice President Joe Biden received about 37% of the vote — amounts that equal approximately 1.8 million and 1.1 million ballots, respectively.
At the time of publication, several close races in swing states have yet to be called by the AP.
Biden has earned 248 electoral votes thus far, while Trump has earned 214.
Trump managed an early electoral victory in Florida — a swing state worth 29 electoral votes — granting him a more decisive edge against Biden.
Races in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — respectively worth 10, 16 and 20 electoral votes — have been highly anticipated. Michigan and Pennsylvania are split between Biden and Trump, respectively. Biden has officially won Wisconsin.
Despite Trump’s claim in a 2:30 a.m. press conference Wednesday, “Frankly, we did win this election,” the race has yet to be called by the AP, as neither candidate has yet to receive 270 electoral votes.
Part of the reason Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania have yet to be called can be chalked up to their rules on how mail-in votes are processed.
NPR reports that Pennsylvania and Wisconsin “can’t begin [their] processing work until Election Day,” while in Michigan, “lots of places could only begin processing absentee ballots the day before Election Day.”
What comes next?
Although Election Day has now passed, Americans still do not know the full results of some races, in part thanks to scheduling complications resulting from COVID-19 and the resulting increase in mailed ballots.
For now, Americans must wait for the AP to announce results in undecided races. Given the unusual circumstances of this election, it is not clear when we will know the end results of the Senate and Presidential races.
For live updates on the presidential race, visit the AP News live election coverage website.
