After four days of vote-counting in key states, Joseph R. Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential Election, making him the 46th president of the United States. 

Biden reached the 270 electoral votes needed to win early Saturday after Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes were put in his column by the Associated Press. Subsequently, Biden also won Nevada’s 6 votes, putting the president-elect at 290 votes to President Trump’s 214 votes, with races in three states still too close to call.  

Also on the winning ticket was California Senator Kamala Harris, who will make history as the first woman and first person of color to serve as vice president. The Biden/Harris ticket received a record number of votes, with more than 75 million across the country. 

President-elect Biden, who ran on a moderate Democratic platform with a message of uniting the country, is the first presidential candidate to unseat an incumbent in more than 25 years.  

Announcement of the Biden victory has caused Americans to pour into the streets both in celebration and protest. In Washington, D.C., Biden supporters gathered in front of the White House to celebrate, whereas Trump supporters, many of them armed, rallied outside of the State Capitol in Arizona.  

When the results were finally confirmed, Webb students took to social media in celebration of the Biden/Harris win. Many highlighted the historic nature of the ticket and expressed relief after a tumultuous election cycle. 

“I finally feel like I am regaining optimism for the future of this country,” said Maya Dholakia (‘21), who voted for Joe Biden. “I am excited to see two people in office who are willing to make change, who are not elitist, and who have every American’s best interest at heart. Not to mention, history was made with our first female, Indian-Black vice president. I have full faith in their empathetic and political abilities.”  

Of course, not everyone was pleased with the Joe Biden victory or the swell of support on social media. 

“I am seeing way too much enthusiasm for Biden’s victory,” said Andy Zhang (‘21). “It’s great that Trump lost, but looking forward at least two years, likely four, of a conservative Senate, decades of a conservative supermajority in the Court, and years of corporate domination in politics is no less of a disaster.” 

Despite the clear electoral college win for Joe Biden, President Trump is not planning on conceding the race, though there has been talk of close aids such as Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump attempting to communicate the reality with the president. Even so, President Trump will likely mount legal battles across the country challenging his loss. The president has continued to make baseless accusations that the election was stolen from him by Democrats, going as far as to claim that the election is “far from over”. 

“The most concerning thing I’ve heard during this election was Trump’s claim that he has already won the election, and officials are illegally counting mail in ballots, which they have not,” said Elena Tiedens (‘21). “I don’t want Trump to be president another four years for a multitude of reasons, but I think right now, the most important thing is to ensure that the process is democratic.” 

At 5:00 p.m. PST, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris delivered a victory speech to a crowd of supporters in Wilmington, Delaware, which the President-elect represented in the Senate for 36 years. In their speeches, Vice President-elect Harris underscored the historic role of women and people of color in Democratic politics, and President-elect Biden emphasized his message of unity and hope.  

Though it is unclear what legal challenges will be made between now and then, millions of Americans are looking forward to January 20th, 2021, when Joseph R. Biden will be sworn in as president of the United States.