2020 Presidential Election: Live Coverage and Editor’s Op/Ed

7:00 p.m. CST – Biden: 85 electorate votes, Trump: 55 electorate votes. Florida is currently being counted, and if Trump takes this state, Biden is in for a battle. As previously mentioned, Biden’s attack on oil fracking could cause a loss in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has just closed, but no data is available. Ohio has about one-third of its votes in, with majority of the counties coming in as red. Most shockingly, Biden has a slight lead in traditionally red Texas. Florida has a right lean with 85% reporting, Pennsylvania has a left lean with 1% reporting. Texas, is blue with 21% reporting.

7:30 p.m. CST – Biden: 85, Trump: 61. Trump is running up a lead in Florida. There is a discrepancy between the electoral votes amongst news networks and Google – this article will rely on Google.

8:00 p.m. CST – Biden: 119, Trump: 92. There is now an interesting red trend throughout the midwest. With Biden having a near 30-point lead on Trump, Republicans are fearful as counties are trickling in. This is sorting out to be a razor-tight election.

8:30 p.m. CST – Biden: 122, Trump: 92. Biden is pulling Minnesota as well as Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico. Trump has a lead in Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania still seems to be up for grabs – majority of counties are reporting red, but it is still sitting at 13% reported.

9:00 p.m. CST – Biden: 131, Trump: 92. Polls have just closed in another four states, it is too early to project a winner in Iowa, but in terms of Nevada, it seems Trump may have a lead. New York finally started reporting, with a Biden lead.

9:00 p.m. CST – Biden: 131, Trump: 98. Trump is winning via popular vote, as more states throughout the center of the country solidify red.

9:30 p.m. CST – Biden: 135, Trump: 108.

10:00 p.m. CST – Biden:135, Trump: 108. Sen. Graham (R) is celebrating retaining his seat in South Carolina. Trump leads with a near three million lead in popular vote, Biden taking the electoral college, and Trump just won Idaho. The states that remain to report are the entire west coast, as well as Hawaii and California.

10:30 p.m. CST – Biden: 209, Trump 118. Fox news is reporting Trump is at 148, and Biden just took Arizona, additionally fox reports that Sen. Mark Kelly has taken Arizona, but Google (powered by the Associated Press) reports Arizona is still 72% reported. It is important to note these discrepancies in reporting.

11:00 p.m. CST – Biden: 209, Trump 118. Trump won Ohio, Florida and Texas, but Biden took Arizona – some states are calling it, but news commenters argue it is too early to truly decide whether or not a candidate took the state. Biden has about a 1.2 million lead on Trump for popular vote.

11:30 p.m. CST – Biden: 223, Trump 145.

12:00 a.m. CST – Biden: 223, Trump 174. This is the conclusion of this article for the evening. This article will be updated by morning CST.

Nov. 4 Update: 3:30 p.m. CST (Nov. 4) – Biden: 248, Trump: 214. Based off of my projections, in conjunction with what I have seen through BBC, CNN, Fox, and MSNBC – it looks like Biden might take this election – but, if Trump is able to flip either Michigan or Nevada, he will. Full disclosure, this article is now transitioning to the opinion/editorial portion, therefore to maintain full transparency, the below is my personal opinion and does not reflect the current, real-time state of the election.

Now onto the mess that was last night – as a nation, we knew this election was going to be close, but how close was what was up for grabs. The election started out strong in both candidate’s favor, but then took a sharp upturn for Biden, as blue states were confirmed first on average. There were a few states with a stark blue lean that quickly flipped red, such as Texas or Michigan, but currently Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Nevada are blue, with Wisconsin being confirmed as a Biden win today.

In terms of popular vote, Biden has a ~2.9 million lead on Trump, as well as he now has 22 electorate votes to go for a win. Last night President Trump spoke, opening up in a somber tone – with echoes of his supporters stating “we love you.”

Trump’s opening remarks included that there was a group of individuals aiming to disenfranchise his voters, as well as how his team was preparing for a celebration. Most notably, he pronounced wins in Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Georgia – though Georgia and North Carolina are yet to be confirmed, a premature celebration for his campaign. Though Arizona had been called as blue, Trump fired back stating he thinks he will be able to overturn it, as well as he believes Pennsylvania is in his playing field. Though, his aura was off – as the crowd cheered, he kept a straight face, no smiles or waives, just a straight face with a few pursed smirks, a stark difference from 2016.

Since Trump has a high lead in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina – paired with the Biden’s lead in Nevada and Michigan is very, very marginal, it is my personal opinion that Trump will win – however, votes are still being counted, and Nevada is only 75% reported. Michigan on the other hand, is 99% reported at about a 60,000 vote lead on Trump.

The other interesting state is Alaska – 3 electoral votes. Trump has an extremely high lead in that state, so I believe that will turn in his favor. If Biden takes both Nevada and Michigan, he will be at 270 electoral votes on the dot, but if Trump takes all the right leaning states currently, he will be at 268, so he must flip either Nevada or Michigan to win, at the given time – it looks like Nevada is his best bet.

What we have all been expecting though is, will there be voting challenges made in certain states by the Trump campaign? Oh, most certainly. As to how that reflects his public image, we all know the media will pester him – however he has more constituents than the media previously stated, so how can we fully trust the noise we hear on a consistent basis about him?

I was personally uncomfortable with what went down last night – though I like Kamala Harris as a person, I am not sure if she is fit to be a Vice President – since I have not heard solid answers or plans on certain things from the Biden campaign (these “things” I am mentioning will be denoted in a later article). However – that does not mean I am a Trump fan either. In Biden’s address last night, I was uncomfortable with his attitude and smugness, but that is because I am a critic of both sides. Trump’s address was no better – with his “too early to call” remarks that he made towards certain states.

In essence, as a journalist, I am upset I cannot provide any answers in the allotted time I have for this article. In my profession, I seek clear-cut answers, and although Trump lovers will argue its a Trump victory and he was justified in what he said, or its a Biden victory and Biden’s address was beautifully thought out, I disagree with both.

Being a “former” full-blown conservative, this is a shocking change in opinion. Many of my readers perhaps expected an op/ed entirely throwing the dagger at Biden, but I cannot. There are silver linings if either win, and at the end of the day we do not have direct control over it. At the end of the day, when the results come to a close, your neighbors will still be your neighbors. As denoted in an Instagram post to MNR’s account (@theminnesotarepublic), Biden won’t be there to help you with groceries, and Trump won’t be there to pump your gas. Your neighbors will, and the two candidates will stay in their wealthy political worlds.

The world will move on. What is most important is that we stick together, stay there for our loved ones during polarized times, don’t disassociate from those with difference of opinion (unless that opinion infringes on another’s rights), and stay healthy.

As a nation we are America strong, and like anything else, we will prevail, together.