BIDEN TAKES GEORGIA TO SOLIDIFY VICTORY
(BBC) US President-elect Joe Biden has won the state of Georgia, the BBC projects, the first Democratic candidate to do so since 1992.
The win solidifies Mr Biden’s victory, giving him a total of 306 votes in the electoral college, the system the US uses to choose its president.
President Donald Trump is projected to win North Carolina, reaching 232 votes.
Mr Trump, who has not yet conceded, alluded for the first time to a possible new administration in January.
Looking subdued, the president stopped short of acknowledging his defeat during a briefing of his coronavirus task force at the White House, his first public appearance since his election defeat was projected by US media.
As the country faces growing outbreaks of Covid-19, Mr Trump said he would not impose a lockdown to fight the virus, adding: “Whatever happens in the future, who knows which administration it will be. I guess time will tell.”
The president, who did not mention Mr Biden by name, did not take questions from reporters. Pressure is growing on Mr Trump, a Republican, to acknowledge Mr Biden’s victory and help prepare the transition from one administration to another.
The results in Georgia and North Carolina were the last to be projected in the race for the White House. Mr Biden’s electoral votes equal the tally Mr Trump achieved in his victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016. At the time Mr Trump referred to it as “a landslide”.
President Trump has launched a flurry of legal challenges in key states and levelled unsubstantiated allegations of widespread electoral fraud. But his efforts suffered three setbacks on Friday:
A manual recount is to be carried out in Georgia because of the narrow margin between the two candidates, but the Biden team said they did not expect it to change the results there.
Joe Biden did not have to win Georgia or Arizona to secure the White House. His recapturing of the “blue wall” northern industrial states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania by themselves assured his victory.
The former vice-president’s success in these Sun Belt states – the first time a Democrat has won either in decades – suggests, however, that Democrats may be clearing a new path to presidential success in future elections.
If so, it would make Democrats less dependent on the kind of non-college-educated white voters in those northern battlegrounds that, given Donald Trump’s appeal, may be trending toward the Republicans. It was educated suburban voters, as well as traditionally Democratic ethnic minorities, that delivered Georgia and Arizona to Mr Biden.
It is not all good news for the Democrats, however. Donald Trump did win North Carolina – another southern swing state – even though it was carried by Barack Obama in 2008.
The electoral map is shifting, and the parties will have to adjust their strategies accordingly. In the meantime, Georgia – which has two January run-off elections that will decide control of the US Senate – will take centre stage in the months ahead. Joe Biden’s narrow victory there all but assures it will be a hotly contested battle.
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