Sarah McBrideof Delaware has become the first openly trans person to be elected a state senator in US history.
She won 86% of absentee ballot voters in the state’s first district, and will be the highest-ranking trans politician in the US.
I just had the privilege of voting for myself in the general election.
To anyone who worries that their truth and their dreams are mutually exclusive, know that change is possible. Know that your voice matters. Know that you can do this, too. 💗 pic.twitter.com/2B4ZMpPony
In 2013, McBride worked on the campaign of Beau Biden – Joe Biden’s late son who served as Delaware’s attorney general – and collaborated with him on the Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Act. Joe Biden wrote the foreword to McBride’s book on her fight for trans rights in 2018.
She has spent years advocating for LGBTQ+ rights with the Human Rights Campaign, and was the first openly trans person to work in the White House under Barack Obama.
“Sarah’s overwhelming victory is a powerful testament to the growing influence of transgender leaders in our politics and gives hope to countless trans people looking toward a brighter future,” said Annise Parker of LGBTQ Victory Fund.
“For Sarah to shatter a lavender ceiling in such a polarizing year is a powerful reminder that voters are increasingly rejecting the politics of bigotry in favor of candidates who stand for fairness and equality. Her victory will inspire more trans people to follow in her footsteps and run for public office.”
Fox News is projecting Democrats will build upon their House majority with tonight’s results.
The Fox News Decision Desk can now project that Dems will retain control of the House..& expand their majority by at least 5 seats. This is a major boost for..House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has pledged to roll back much of Trump’s first-term agenda if he loses reelection
North Carolina remains too close to call. With about 79% of the vote in, Joe Biden leads Donald Trump by 2.5 points.
The counties to watch in the state are Jackson, Hyde and Caswell, all considered bellwether counties – each of them voted the same way North Carolina as a whole did in the last three presidential elections. The counties went for Barack Obama in 2008, for Mitt Romney in 2012 and for Trump in 2016.
The other to keep an eye on is Robeson county. In the three elections since 2008, Robeson has picked the candidate who ended up winning the White House.
Officials have said they expect to have counted 97% of this year’s votes tonight.
With the closure of polls in more than a dozen states, the AP has made another flurry of calls in the presidential race.
Donald Trump has picked up North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Louisiana and Nebraska. The AP also called Indiana for Trump shortly before polls closed in some western states.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden has won the states of New York and New Mexico.
Biden has now secured 119 electoral votes, while Trump has won 92. A candidate needs to win 270 electoral votes to capture the presidency.
Annika Tierney walked up to a polling location on Tuesday night with just half an hour to spare.
Given the spectres of “Trumpers”, voter intimidation and Covid-19, she wasn’t sure if she was going to vote. After an anxiety attack, she decided to risk even the possibility of catching a deadly virus in order to make her voice heard.
Tierney, 29, feels like the election represents “a way out” and an opportunity to “not feel so lost”. She cares about a slew of issues – climate change, abortion rights, getting control of the pandemic – plus she’s “fed up” with the Trump administration.
“I just hope that there is a complete, sweeping change of everything,” Tierney said. “I feel like the whole system needs to be gutted, you know, and just changed from the inside out.”
People are beginning to trickle into a Trump “victory party”, in Ashtabula county, Ohio, as the polls have closed and results have begun to come in.
There are no balloons or fanfare this year, and some of the attendees have been reprimanded for standing instead of sitting at tables. I’d say the mood so far is nervous, although people are getting enthusiastic as Florida starts to look good for Donald Trump.
Ohio is expected to announce its own results relatively early, which could give an indication as to how Trump will fair in the rest of the Midwest.
Anthony Fix, 56, voted for Trump in 2016. He wasn’t sure how it was going to go tonight.
“I honestly don’t know because I’ve kept myself in a news blackout the last couple days,” Fix said. “I’ve heard the polls saying Biden has a big lead – personally I have a hard time seeing it. I think there is a large Trump silent majority out there. It’s whether they will come out or not.”
The victory party is at a bar in Geneva-on-the-lake, a town that true to the name is on a lake. Ashtabula county is in the very north-east of the state, and voted for a Democrat in every presidential election from 1988 to 2012. Trump shattered that record when he won the county by almost 19 points in 2016.
It’s one of nine counties in Ohio that swung to Trump having backed Barack Obama in both 2008 and 2012. Trump won the state by eight points. No results are out yet for Ashtabula, but it looks like Joe Biden is outperforming Hillary Clinton in nearby Mahoning county, which includes Youngstown.
Ashtabula was once reliant on its coal port for jobs and income, but in a tale that mirrors much of the rest of the Midwest rust belt, it fell into decline as its dominant industry declined.
No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio – and even a tight race would suggest difficulties for Trump in the mid-west states where he won much more narrowly in 2016.
Mitch McConnell declares 'this is no time to tear down statues' in victory speech – video
Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader,addressed his supporters after winning re-election in Kentucky.
“Kentucky, I’m humbled and grateful that you’ve rehired me to keep fighting for your families and serving our commonwealth for the next six years,” McConnell said.
The Senate leader argued his victory in the traditionally conservative state was evidence that Republican policies were broadly popular in the country.
“Kentucky wants more of the policies that built the best economy in modern history. Not socialism,” McConnell said. “This is no time to declare war on our institutions because one side is angry.”
Tech reporter Kari Paul reports from Oakland, California:
Be careful where you turn for live news tonight: YouTube has removed several channels for broadcasting fake election results on Tuesday, hours before any of the polls closed.
Late Tuesday afternoon, eight out of the top 20 videos that appeared when you searched “live 2020 presidential election results” brought up fake feeds, according to a report from Business Insider.
TODAY IN FAKE NEWS: Several YouTube channels live streaming “Election Results” showing same projected election graphic as “results.” No election results currently available as polls still open. First polls close at 7pm EST. Thousands watching streams. One stream is monetized. pic.twitter.com/VoJvFgIGDa
One of the channels broadcasting fake results had more than 1m subscribers and four of them were verified. More than one video had advertisements before, suggesting the account holders were making money off the misinformation.
As of Tuesday at 5 pm PST, it appears the misleading videos and channels were removed from the top results. YouTube told Business Insider it is removing livestreams that violate its community guidelines.
“We have established policies prohibiting spam, deceptive practices & scams, and we continue to be vigilant with regards to election-related content in the lead-up and post-election period,” YouTube told Insider in a statement.
