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People watch Biden give a speech shortly after midnight on Election Day on November 4, 2020 in Washington, D.C.
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Americans that went to bed on Tuesday night woke up Wednesday to find not much has changed — the U.S. doesn’t know who the next president is, or which party controls the U.S. Senate.
Projections from the Associated Press give former Vice President Joe Biden a narrow lead over President Donald Trump, with several key states including Pennsylvania undeclared. Biden on Tuesday night expressed confidence that he would win, while Trump, on the basis of leads before mail-in votes were counted in critical Midwest states, decried a “major fraud.”
What is known is that a so-called blue wave that pollsters envisioned didn’t materialize. The U.S. Senate could be split 50-50, giving control of the upper chamber to the party that wins the presidency. Bold ideas like repealing the filibuster or packing the Supreme Court would need complete party unity, and the size of a fiscal stimulus package could be watered down.
Financial markets struggled to make sense of what was going on. The range on the Dow futures YM00, -0.13% contract, for example, veered some 772 points. The U.S. dollar DXY, +0.10% rose amid the uncertainty, with investors paradoxically fleeing to the source of the instability.
“The markets were prepared to absorb a clear victory by either of the two candidates — but the uncertainties associated with a disputed election were what investors feared the most,” said Nathan Sheets, chief economist at PGIM Fixed Income.
A waitress wears a protective mask as she watches a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump on a television during an election-watching event at a local bar on November 4, 2020, in Beijing, China.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
Markets were rattled, briefly, after Trump said “we are going to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
“This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election. We did win this election. So our goal now is to ensure the integrity for the good of this nation,” said Trump. Standing besides the president, Vice President Mike Pence used softer language. “While the votes continue to be counted, we’re going to remain vigilant, as the president said,” said Pence.
As of 5 a.m. Eastern, Biden held a 238 to 213 lead, according to the Associated Press. In the Senate, it is a tie at 47 each. The House will remain under Democratic control but with a smaller majority, according to Associated Press projections.
Biden could win the election if Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin go his way. The biggest Electoral College prize still up for grabs is Pennsylvania, with 20 votes.
According to preliminary estimates from exit polls conducted by Edison Research, a net 21% of Americans said their family’s financial situation is better today than four years ago. Voters who said the economy was the most important issue preferred Trump by a 82%-to-17% margin. Voters who said racial inequality or the coronavirus pandemic were the most important issue overwhelmingly preferred Biden.
There was one clear winner on Tuesday night — Americans voted in a number of state initiatives in favor of legalizing recreational drugs, with Oregon taking the step of decriminalizing small amounts of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
