Election News

Georgia 5th District Special Election Runoff

Voters in Georgia's 5th congressional district will elect a representative Tuesday via a special election runoff. This was the seat previously held by the late John Lewis.

The winner will only serve a month in Congress.

No candidate received a majority of the vote in the September 29 special election; forcing Tuesday's runoff. Advancing were two Democrats, Kwanza Hall and Robert Franklin. Hall led with 32% of the vote; Franklin finished 2nd with 28%.

Where Things Stand: 2020 Election Results Maps

Interactive maps for the November 3, 2020 general election. A few races remain uncalled as of this writing; the maps will update as elections are decided.

Election Results by State >>


President

States continue to certify the results. See the current certification map and calendar here.  The electors meet to vote in their respective states December 14. 

Five states Donald Trump won in 2016 were won by Joe Biden:  Arizona (11), Georgia (16), Michigan (16), Pennsylvania (20), Wisconsin (10). In addition, Biden won the electoral vote associated with Nebraska's 2nd district. Before accounting for faithless electors, the result is a mirror opposite of Trump's 306-232 win in 2016.


Senate

Democrats gained two seats (Arizona and Colorado) while Republicans flipped Alabama. None of these was a large surprise. The GOP was able to sweep the other seats seen as most competitive: Iowa, Maine, Montana and North Carolina. Control of the Senate in 2021 will come down to two runoff elections in Georgia on January 5. Republicans maintain control by winning either of these runoffs. 

The 117th Congress is expected to be seated on January 3. There will be seven new Senators sworn in that day:  Tommy Tuberville (R, AL); Mark Kelly (D, AZ); John Hickenlooper (D, CO); Roger Marshall (R, KS); Ben Ray Lujan (D, NM); Bill Hagerty (R, TN); Cynthia Lummis (R, WY). 


House

Democrats will retain control but with a notably smaller majority. Heading into the election, the party held a 233-201 advantage, with one Libertarian. As of this writing, that number is 222-209, with four seats uncalled. NY-1 seems almost certain to stay in GOP hands, which will make it 222-210. The other three races are incredibly tight. See the latest results below the map. 

Aside from two seats gained through court-ordered redistricting in North Carolina, the only Democratic flip was in GA-7. Republicans have won back at least 10 seats they lost in 2018. With these gains, Republicans will have the majority of House delegations in 26 or 27 states, while Democrats will have 20. Currently, the GOP edge is 26-23.

The 117th Congress is scheduled to be seated on January 3. Speaker Pelosi's majority will get even more narrow after that, at least temporarily.  At least one member, Cedric Richmond (LA-2) has been tapped to join the Biden Administration; he is expected to resign before January 20.  

Interactive Map: States Certifying 2020 Presidential Election Results

We've had some requests for a map of states have certified their 2020 presidential election results. That appears below; the image will update as more states certify.  We're using this resource from The New York Times to help populate the map. 

States that have certified their results are shown as dark red/blue. Others are shown lighter red/blue based on the projected winner.  

 

Democrats Retain a Reduced Majority in House; 10 Races Remain Uncalled

Democrats will have a noticeably smaller majority when the 117th Congress begins in January.  Prior to the election, the party held a 233-2011 1This includes five vacancies allocated to the party that last held the seat. edge over Republicans, with one seat (MI-3) held by Libertarian Justin Amash, who left the GOP in 2019. Republicans regained that seat and have flipped ten others thus far. Democrats have flipped three seats, two of which were virtually certain due to court-mandated redistricting in North Carolina. 

Of these ten Republican gains, nine were seats the party had lost just two years ago. Freshman Democrats Gil Cisneros (CA-39), Harley Rouda (CA-48), Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL-26), Donna Shalala (FL-27), Abby Finkenauer (IA-1), Xochitl Torres Small (NM-2), Max Rose (NY-11), Kendra Horn (OK-5) and Joe Cunningham (SC-1) all went down to defeat. In addition, Collin Peterson failed to win a 16th term in the strongly pro-Trump MN-7.  The one Democratic gain not associated with redistricting was in suburban Atlanta GA-7, where Carolyn Bourdeaux prevailed. Bourdeaux lost to incumbent Republican Rob Woodall in 2018; it was the closest House race in the country that year. Woodall did not run this year.

Here's a map of where things stand, with the 10 uncalled races shown as toss-up. Click or tap for an interactive version. For those looking ahead, keep in mind that the map will change for 2022, as redistricting will occur based on the upcoming Census results. 

117th Congress: Partisan Composition of the U.S. House by State

With one exception, we now know which party will be in the majority in each state's 2021 U.S. House delegation. Aside from Iowa's 2nd district, none of the 14 races that remain uncalled will change this calculation.

Currently, Republicans hold a 26-23 edge, with one tie in Pennsylvania. Democrats are going to lose three narrow majorities, as Michigan and Minnesota move to an evenly split delegation. In Michigan, Republican Peter Meijer won in District 3, reclaiming the seat held by Libertarian Justin Amash who left the party in 2019. In Minnesota, 15 term Democrat Collin Peterson was defeated in the strongly pro-Trump District 7. 

Iowa will also move to a tie if Democratic nominee Rita Hart wins in District 2. If Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks wins, the GOP will have a 3-1 edge there. This race is exceptionally close; Miller-Meeks leads by 47 votes out of nearly 400,000 counted thus far.

Remaining Uncalled Elections as of November 10

These are the states/races where a winner has not yet been projected by our results partner Decision Desk HQ as of the morning of November 10. Vote counts and projections will update on this page. 

President 

Some outlets have projected Arizona for Joe Biden; Decision Desk has not as of yet. Donald Trump is likely to win Alaska and is slightly ahead in North Carolina. Joe Biden is slightly ahead in Georgia. If it works out this way, Joe Biden will end up with 306 electoral votes to 232 for Donald Trump. Aside from the reversal in parties, that is the exact same count, based on states won, as 2016.

All Results >>

Making the Call: Why Media Outlets are Showing Different Electoral Vote Totals

Depending on where you look, Joe Biden is projected to have won 253 or 264 or 273 electoral votes. Why the discrepancy? There are several independent organizations making race calls. Each has a 'decision desk', where experts (statisticians, political scientists) analyze incoming election results, and mathematically model what's yet to be counted. When they are highly certain that the final numbers for a race will favor one candidate, they will make a call. For example, NBC and ABC use a 99.5% level of certainty before making a projection.

As each of these decision desks works independently, and are sequestered from outside influences, races will be called at different times, although absent the rare situation where a call has to be retracted, they will all eventually get to the same place.

Here's how things stand as of Saturday morning, courtesy of this excellent interactive from The New York Times.  In the graphic below, we are showing the states/districts that remain uncalled by one or more outlets.

Biden Elected as Pennsylvania Puts Him Across 270 Electoral Votes

Wisconsin Called for Biden; ME-2 for Trump: Remaining Paths to 270 Electoral Votes

Since our earlier article, Wisconsin was called for Joe Biden, while Maine's 2nd district was won again by Donald Trump. Wisconsin becomes the first state to flip from 2016, although Biden did also capture Nebraska's 2nd district. 

This leaves seven states where a winner has not been projected. Based on the current map, there are 18 paths for Biden to 270, 11 for Trump and 2 that would result in a 269-269 tie. 

Some outlets have called Arizona for Biden; our results provider Decision Desk HQ has not as of yet.

Presidential Election Undecided: Remaining Paths to 270 Electoral Votes

In races called by our results provider Decision Desk HQ, Joe Biden has 227 electoral votes to 213 for Donald Trump as of early Wednesday morning. Aside from Biden winning the electoral vote associated with Nebraska's 2nd district, the map is identical to 2016 in the called states.

Based on the current map, there are 37 paths for Biden to 270, 24 for Trump and 11 that would result in a 269-269 tie.  Some are obviously more likely than others. FOX has called Arizona for Biden, although that has not been confirmed by others.

Click the image below to use our 'Road to 270' feature to game out those remaining states.