Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has taken a small lead in key battleground states against President Donald Trump, but the race for the White House remains too close to call as ballots continue to be counted and the incumbent pushes to fight for a win through the courts.
Delays in tabulating a record number of early in-person and mail-in votes mean that election results are still outstanding in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — and both Trump and Biden must win at least some of them to secure victory in the Electoral College.
Both campaigns have expressed confidence in their eventual success. Trump in the early morning hours today claimed victory and vowed to challenge late-counted ballots at the US Supreme Court.
"This is a fraud on the American public," Trump said. "We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election."
Biden urged his supporters to be patient. "We feel good about where we are," he said.
The unusual gap between results of Election Day votes and early votes has meant the reported outcome has swung wildly since the polls have closed, leading Trump to complain about vote-rigging, without evidence. "How come every time they count Mail-in ballot dumps they are so devastating in their percentage and power of destruction?" Trump said via Twitter. The Trump campaign has indicated willingness to challenge election results in battleground states through courts and state-mandated recount procedures.
Trump overall defied pollsters' forecasts for the second election in a row, easily winning Florida, Ohio and Texas and remaining competitive in Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Biden's campaign is eyeing a potential victory in Arizona and is hoping to solidify gains in Michigan and Wisconsin — all three states voted for Trump in 2016. Biden also clinched an electoral vote in Nebraska, which awards them based on the presidential candidates' performance in its congressional districts.
For the US energy sector, the suspense means uncertainty over two highly divergent paths for energy and environmental policy in the next four years offered by the candidates. A truncated, possibly disputed transition could also make it difficult for lawmakers in the US Congress to co-operate on a new economic stimulus bill in less than two months left in the current legislature's term.
The US Chamber of Commerce urged patience while the election outcome remained undetermined. "Our nation will get through these challenging times. We will have clarity in due course," the leading US business group said. "In the meantime, we need to be patient and have faith in our systems and trust the local officials who oversee the elections in their communities."
Perhaps the one definite result of the elections so far is that Democrats are still likely to hold a majority in the US House of Representatives.
Democrats are in an uphill battle to wrest control of the US Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. Early results indicated a Democratic pick-up in Colorado and a likely victory in Arizona, a Republican pick-up in Alabama, with close races remaining in Maine, North Carolina and Georgia.
House Democratic leaders have said they will continue to prioritize a $2 trillion stimulus bill to jump-start the economy, prevent layoffs of state workers and limit the spread of the pandemic. If Republicans retain control of the US Senate, any potential stimulus could fall far short of the House Democrats' proposal.
