Absentee ballots are processed at the central counting board, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Detroit. The fate of the United States presidency hung in the balance Wednesday morning, as President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden battled for three familiar battleground states, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, that could prove crucial in determining who wins the White House.
Carlos Osorio / AP Photo
Carlos Osorio / AP Photo
Absentee ballots are processed at the central counting board, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Detroit. The fate of the United States presidency hung in the balance Wednesday morning, as President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden battled for three familiar battleground states, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, that could prove crucial in determining who wins the White House.
(Washington) — The Associated Press has called Michigan for Joe Biden, adding 16 electoral votes to the Democratic nominee’s column. The state marks his second success in rebuilding the “blue wall” around the Great Lakes. Wisconsin was called for Biden earlier Wednesday.
This gives Joe Biden 264 electoral votes. If the AP calls any remaining states for Biden, he would reach 270 electoral votes and, by the AP’s count, he would be president-elect.
President Trump’s campaign has contested the vote-count process in Michigan and some other states.
In one of the biggest upsets of the 2016 election, Trump won Michigan by just under 11,000 votes. The Great Lakes State had not voted for a Republican in a presidential election since 1988.
The Democratic ticket spent significant time in Michigan, including during the last stretch of the race, signaling the state’s key role in Biden’s potential path to victory. On Saturday, Biden joined his former running mate, Barack Obama, for the first time this campaign for drive-in rallies in Detroit and Flint. On Tuesday, vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris made a final campaign stop in Detroit.
Trump, too, staked a lot on Michigan. He campaigned in the state throughout the campaign, including late Monday night when he held a big rally in Grand Rapids to close out the 2020 campaign. Grand Rapids is where Trump finished the 2016 campaign, and that late-night rally four years ago has taken on somewhat of a central role in Trump’s telling of his path to winning Michigan — and the presidency.
Trump had been looking to replicate the energy of that first campaign in Michigan, but those efforts have fallen short.
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A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
