{"id":29396,"date":"2020-11-04T08:03:05","date_gmt":"2020-11-04T08:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/11\/04\/trump-wins-florida-locked-in-other-tight-races-with-biden\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:13:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:13:38","slug":"trump-wins-florida-locked-in-other-tight-races-with-biden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2020\/11\/04\/trump-wins-florida-locked-in-other-tight-races-with-biden\/","title":{"rendered":"Presidency hinges on tight races in battleground states"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The fate of the United States presidency hung in the balance Wednesday as President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden battled for three familiar battleground states \u2014 Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania \u2014 that could prove crucial in determining who wins the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was unclear when or how quickly a winner could be determined. The latest vote counts in Michigan and Wisconsin gave Biden a small lead in those states, but it was still too early to call the races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said the president would formally request a Wisconsin recount, citing \u201cirregularities in several Wisconsin counties.\u201d The state allows for an apparent losing candidate to request a recount if the margin is less than 1 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hundreds of thousands of votes were still to be counted in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2020\/11\/04\/there-are-still-tens-of-thousands-of-military-absentee-ballots-yet-to-be-counted\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"166\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/instagram-image-from-fvap.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">There are still tens of thousands of military absentee ballots yet to be counted<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Military and overseas citizens&#039; ballots are still coming in. Will they make a difference?<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Neither candidate cleared the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, and the margins were tight in several other battleground states. Top advisers for both Biden and Trump on Wednesday morning expressed confidence that they respectively had the likelier path to victory in the outstanding states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The margins were exceedingly tight in states across the country, with the candidates trading wins in battlegrounds. Trump picked up Florida, the largest of the swing states, while Biden flipped Arizona, a state that has reliably voted Republican in recent elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/interactives.ap.org\/road-to-270-2020\"\r\nclass=\"ap-embed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"600\" style=\"border: 1px solid #eee;\">\r\n<!-- The following message will be displayed to users with unsupported browsers: -->\r\nYour browser does not support the <code>iframe<\/code> HTML tag.\r\nTry viewing this in a modern browser like Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 or later.\r\n<\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The high-stakes election was held against the backdrop of a historic pandemic that has killed more than 232,000 Americans and wiped away millions of jobs. Both candidates spent months pressing dramatically different visions for the nation\u2019s future, including on racial justice, and voters responded in huge numbers, with more than 100 million people casting votes ahead of Election Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump, in an extraordinary move from the White House, issued premature claims of victory and said he would take the election to the Supreme Court to stop the counting. It was unclear exactly what legal action he could try to pursue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell discounted the president\u2019s quick claim of victory, saying it would take a while for states to conduct their vote counts. The Kentucky Republican said Wednesday that \u201cclaiming you\u2019ve won the election is different from finishing the counting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20309270662374.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House, early Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Washington.\" class=\"wp-image-92312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20309270662374.jpg.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20309270662374.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20309270662374.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20309270662374.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,682 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20309270662374.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House, early Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Washington. (Evan Vucci\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The president stayed out of the public eye but took to Twitter to suggest, without basis, that the election was being tainted by late-counted ballots. Twitter flagged a number of Trump\u2019s tweets, noting some of the information shared was \u201cdisputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Biden, briefly appearing in front of supporters in Delaware, urged patience, saying the election \u201cain\u2019t over until every vote is counted, every ballot is counted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s not my place or Donald Trump\u2019s place to declare who\u2019s won this election,\u201d Biden said. \u201cThat\u2019s the decision of the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vote tabulations routinely continue beyond Election Day, and states largely set the rules for when the count has to end. In presidential elections, a key point is the date in December when presidential electors met. That\u2019s set by federal law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several states allow mailed-in votes to be accepted after Election Day, as long as they were postmarked by Tuesday. That includes Pennsylvania, where ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 can be accepted if they arrive up to three days after the election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said he had \u201cpromised Pennsylvanians that we would count every vote and that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2020\/11\/04\/armed-services-committees-and-the-election-heres-what-we-know\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1229448609.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Armed Services committees and the election: Here\u2019s what we know<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Stay tuned for updates as results for key congressional races continue to roll in. Will there be a major shakeup for the congressional Armed Services committees?<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump appeared to suggest those ballots should not be counted, and that he would fight for that outcome at the high court. But legal experts were dubious of Trump\u2019s declaration. Trump has appointed three of the high court\u2019s nine justices including, most recently, Amy Coney Barrett.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats typically outperform Republicans in mail voting, while the GOP looks to make up ground in Election Day turnout. That means the early margins between the candidates could be influenced by which type of votes \u2014 early or Election Day \u2014 were being reported by the states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout the campaign, Trump cast doubt about the integrity of the election and repeatedly suggested that mail-in ballots should not be counted. Both campaigns had teams of lawyers at the ready to move into battleground states if there were legal challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump kept several states, including Texas, Iowa and Ohio, where Biden had made a strong play in the final stages of the campaign. But Biden picked off states where Trump sought to compete, including New Hampshire and Minnesota. But Florida was the biggest, fiercely contested battleground on the map, with both campaigns battling over the 29 Electoral College votes that went to Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The president adopted Florida as his new home state, wooed its Latino community, particularly Cuban-Americans, and held rallies there incessantly. For his part, Biden deployed his top surrogate \u2014 former President Barack Obama \u2014 there twice in the campaign\u2019s closing days and benefitted from a $100 million pledge in the state from Michael Bloomberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20309218769209.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden arrives to speak to supporters, early Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Wilmington, Del., as Jill Biden looks on.\" class=\"wp-image-66264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20309218769209.jpg.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20309218769209.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20309218769209.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20309218769209.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,682 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20309218769209.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden arrives to speak to supporters, early Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Wilmington, Del., as Jill Biden looks on. (Paul Sancya\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats entered the night confident not only in Biden\u2019s prospects, but also in the the party\u2019s chances of taking control of the Senate. But the GOP held several seats that were considered vulnerable, including in Iowa, Texas and Kansas. Disappointed Democrats lost House seats but were expected to retain control there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The coronavirus pandemic \u2014 and Trump\u2019s handling of it \u2014 was the inescapable focus for 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2020\/11\/04\/what-veterans-and-service-members-want-from-the-next-commander-in-chief\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/military-election.png.png?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">What veterans and service members want from the next commander in chief<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Veterans and service members hope to see changes over the next four years led by the next commander in chief.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Trump, the election stood as a judgment on his four years in office, a term in which he bent Washington to his will, challenged faith in its institutions and changed how America was viewed across the globe. Rarely trying to unite a country divided along lines of race and class, he has often acted as an insurgent against the government he led while undermining the nation\u2019s scientists, bureaucracy and media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The momentum from early voting carried into Election Day, as an energized electorate produced long lines at polling sites throughout the country. Turnout was higher than in 2016 in numerous counties, including all of Florida, nearly every county in North Carolina and more than 100 counties in both Georgia and Texas. That tally seemed sure to increase as more counties reported their turnout figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Voters braved worries of the coronavirus, threats of polling place intimidation and expectations of long lines caused by changes to voting systems, but appeared undeterred as turnout appeared it would easily surpass the 139 million ballots cast four years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No major problems arose on Tuesday, outside the typical glitches of a presidential election: Some polling places opened late, robocalls provided false information to voters in Iowa and Michigan, and machines or software malfunctioned in some counties in the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the coronavirus now surging anew, voters ranked the pandemic and the economy as top concerns in the race between Trump and Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a national survey of the electorate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Voters were especially likely to call the public health crisis the nation\u2019s most important issue, with the economy following close behind. Fewer named health care, racism, law enforcement, immigration or climate change<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The survey found that Trump\u2019s leadership loomed large in voters&#8217; decision-making. Nearly two-thirds of voters said their vote was about Trump \u2014 either for him or against him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Jaffe reported from Wilmington, Delaware. Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor and Aamer Madhani contributed reporting.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Neither candidate cleared the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, and the margins were tight in several battleground states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":80638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":68,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,31,15,68,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[656,1151,1982,3135],"class_list":["post-29396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-management","category-leadership","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2MBC2WQ66ZE6HC5FRWZCOMAC7E","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/election-2020\/2020\/11\/04\/trump-wins-florida-locked-in-other-tight-races-with-biden\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Presidency hinges on tight races in battleground states - Federal Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Neither candidate cleared the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, and the margins were tight in several battleground states.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Presidency hinges on tight races in battleground states\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Neither candidate cleared the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, and the margins were tight in several battleground states.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2020\/11\/04\/trump-wins-florida-locked-in-other-tight-races-with-biden\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Federal Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-04T08:03:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T09:13:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jonathan Lemire, The Associated Press, Zeke Miller, The Associated Press, Jill Colvin, The Associated Press, Alexandra Jaffe, The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jonathan Lemire, The Associated Press, Zeke Miller, The Associated Press, Jill Colvin, The Associated Press, Alexandra Jaffe, The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta 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