Wednesday, November 6, 2024
It is Wednesday, November 6, 2024. The election is over. Here are today’s top stories, which will be all about the election.
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Trump wins presidency
It’s going to be Donald Trump as our president for another four years.
America could have made history with the first woman president in Kamala Harris, but not this time.
Trump has made a stunning political comeback from his decline after losing the 2020 election, sparking the Jan. 6 riot, and facing multiple criminal investigations.
Trump’s victory shows that Joe Biden’s presidency was very unpopular with masses of American people, as they felt burdened by inflation and possibly became angry with the migrant crisis and seeing billions of dollars go to overseas wars.
Kamala Harris was thrust into the spotlight just a few months ago when Biden dropped out of the race. She was given a huge responsibility to lead the Democratic Party and I think she gave a valiant effort, as she was not far behind Trump in most battleground states.
As polls closed on Tuesday night, we could see that Trump had an early lead in the electoral college as he quickly picked up “red” states. Harris won most of the northeastern “blue” states.
Harris needed to win several battleground states or flip “red” states to blue, like Joe Biden did with Georgia in 2020, but she couldn’t do that through the night.
As midnight neared, Trump won the first of the seven key battleground states in North Carolina. And it started to feel inevitable that Trump would win more battleground states as he seized the lead in vote tallies in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
After 12:30 a.m., multiple news outlets projected that Trump won Georgia and its 16 electoral votes. That pushed Harris to the brink and forced her to have to win all of the remaining battleground states to prevent Trump from getting the 270 electoral votes, which she couldn’t do because she was trailing Trump in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
Harris’ watch party at Howard University in Washington, D.C. was shut down when a spokesperson for the Harris campaign came onstage and encouraged people to go home because they were still counting votes. But that was like a signal that they were defeated.
Around 2:00 a.m., Fox News projected Trump as the winner. Multiple news outlets said Trump won the election in the hours that followed.
Trump, during his victory speech at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, promised that he would heal the nation, fix its borders, and deliver a strong and prosperous economy.
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Republicans win majority in Senate
Republicans won control of the Senate after the election. As of this morning, out of 100 Senate seats, Republicans have 52 seats. Democrats have 42 seats.
Axios said this guarantees the Republican Party at least some control in Congress next year when President Trump returns to the White House.
This means the Senate will be able to easily approve Trump’s appointments to the federal judiciary and pass conservative legislation if it gets through the House.
The question now, as polls continue to be counted, is the size of the Republican party’s majority in the Senate.
For the House, the race is still too close to call with many races still being counted. Right now, Republicans have the lead.
If Republicans win control of the House, then the country will be under total Republican control because the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court lean conservative.
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States vote on question of abortion rights
Ten states voted on whether they wanted to guarantee abortion rights in their state’s constitution. NPR said seven states approved abortion rights while three states rejected it. NPR said the results “mean a dramatic redrawing of the map for abortion access in parts of the country.”
In Missouri, voters approved an amendment that will guarantee abortion access until around 24 weeks of pregnancy, which reverses a previous strict abortion ban.
In Arizona, voters did the same, reversing a previous 15-week abortion law to allow up to about 24 weeks.
In Florida, voters rejected adding abortion rights to its constitution. It means the state’s six-week abortion ban will stay in place.
In South Dakota, voters also did the same, rejecting an abortion rights amendment. The state bans all abortions except to save the life of the mother.
In Nebraska, voters chose a 12-week abortion ban over another proposal to allow abortion up to 24 weeks.
Voters in Colorado, Nevada, Maryland, Montana, and New York supported proposals to strengthen abortion rights.
https://www.npr.org/2024/11/06/g-s1-32962/abortion-rights-amendments-2024-election
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Four states vote on whether to legalize marijuana
Four states voted on the question of legalizing marijuana.
In Florida, voters narrowly rejected a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana that required at least 60% approval. Only 56% of voters supported it, which was not enough.
In Nebraska, voters approved a proposal to legalize medical marijuana. People can obtain marijuana only with a written recommendation from a health care provider.
In North Dakota, voters rejected a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana. Medical marijuana is already legal there.
In South Dakota, voters also rejected a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana.
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Candidates who made history after election
CNN did a nice list of several candidates who made history during this election. I will mention several.
In Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno will be the first Latino senator from the state. He was born in Colombia and moved with his family to America while he was a child.
In Washington state, Democrat Nick Brown will be the first Black person elected attorney general.
Also in Washington state, Emily Randall won her Congressional election and will be the first out LGBTQ person elected to Congress from Washington state. She is also a Latina and will be the first out Latina elected to Congress.
In New Jersey, Democrat Andy Kim will be the first Korean American elected to the U.S. Senate.
In Maryland, Democrat Angela Alsobrooks will be the first Black senator from Maryland.
Delaware also elected a Black female candidate, Lisa Blunt Rochester (D), to the Senate. CNN said it marks the first time that two Black women will serve simultaneously in the Senate.
Also in Delaware, Sarah McBride (D) will be the first transgender member of Congress.
In Arizona, Yassamin Ansari (D) will be the first Iranian American Democrat elected to Congress.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/05/politics/history-election-firsts-dg/index.html
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That’s all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.