By Ana Martinez-Ortiz
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect current results.
After days of waiting, The Associated Press called the race for the 2020 presidential election with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the next President and Vice President of the United States. While votes are still being counted in several states, Biden has received the majority of the Electoral College votes with 290 votes as of Saturday, Nov. 7.
A typical Election Day ends with the final results, but this year, things played out differently.
The national election took place earlier this week and as of Thursday, Nov. 5, the presidential election results haven’t yet been called.
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on Wisconsin since the beginning and with the potential for an outbreak, the Milwaukee Election Commission encouraged Milwaukeeans to vote early. This resulted in an unprecedented number of absentee ballots, which took nearly 24-hours to completely count.
After waiting with bated breath, the Associated Press declared Wisconsin a blue state on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Wisconsin had been red in 2016.
According to the Journal Sentinel, Joe Biden received 49.6% of the votes or 1,630,542 in Wisconsin. Donald Trump came in with 48.9% of the votes or 1,610,007.
Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes went toward Biden, who needs a 270 majority to win. Although Trump dominated in most of the state, Biden won major counties including Milwaukee, Dane, La Crosse and Eau Claire.
County Executive David Crowley released a statement thanking election officials, poll workers and volunteers for making Milwaukee’s election a success.
“In the throes of the pandemic, we would never have been successful in holding yesterday’s election without the hard work and dedication of election officials, poll workers, and volunteers who worked tirelessly to ensure voting in Milwaukee County was safe, free, fair and accessible for everyone,” Crowley said.
He added that he remains inspired my Milwaukee’s high turnout rate in which voters cast a ballot through mail, at early voting sites or in person on Election Day.
“Our focus on achieving racial equity hinges, in part, on the inclusion of all voices – especially those voices that have been historically marginalized economically, politically and culturally,” he said.
Milwaukee County saw 464,300 ballots cast with a voter turnout of 83%.
As in any general election, Biden and Trump weren’t the only names on the ballot. This year in Wisconsin, there were candidates competing for seats in the Wisconsin U.S. House, the state senate and the state assembly.
In the Wisconsin State Senate race, Sen. Lena Taylor (District 4) won as did Sen. LaTonya Johnson (District 6) with 88.8% of the vote. Taylor ran unopposed.
In the Wisconsin U.S. House Race, Congresswoman Gwen Moore achieved victory in District 4 with 74.7% of the votes against Tim Rogers and Robert Raymond.
Newcomer Dora Drake will be representing District 11 in the State Assembly after wining 84.7% of the vote and Supreme Moore Omokunde will represent District 17. Rep. LaKeshia Myers will hold on to her seat in the assembly as the representative for District 12 as will Rep. Kalan Haywood in District 16.
“Thank you to all of my supporters, campaign staff, my loved ones and the residents of District 11,” Drake wrote on Facebook. “As Rep. Jason M. Fields ends his term, I’m honored I have his support as well as being elected to be your next WI State Representative!”
While the focus remains on the presidential election, Wisconsin can rest easy knowing its state officials are a sure thing.