Presidential and House Elections Called, Senate Still Pending as Vote Count Proceeds

On Saturday, former Vice President Joe Biden was named the President-Elect by most major news networks after clearing the 270-electoral vote threshold. States are certifying their election results in the coming weeks, and President-Elect Biden is slated to become the 46^th President on January 20, 2021. Joining him in the White House will be Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, who will become the first woman, the first person of color and the first Asian American to hold the office.

President Trump, who has yet to concede the election, is signaling his intent to pursue legal battles over which his advisors and key Republicans are divided. Experts view the President’s approach as highly unlikely to change the election results, and the President’s team has yet to introduce any evidence supporting his claims about illegal ballots being counted in key battleground states.

On Capitol Hill, Democrats have retained their majority in the House of Representatives, albeit after losing some seats. We will know the exact division of seats in the House in coming days, but at the time of writing, it appeared as though Democrats would maintain a seven- or eight-seat margin in the House. Control of the Senate continues to hang in the balance with both of Georgia’s seats going to a run-off election on January 5. Meanwhile, ballots in the Senate races in Alaska and North Carolina continue to be counted, though incumbent Senators Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) are expected to win re-election.

With the elections in the rearview mirror, ANCOR is actively following announcements from President-elect Biden’s transition team. While no formal announcements have been made on the composition of the incoming cabinet or other senior-level officials, our members can get a head start by looking at this list of contenders for Cabinet positions and reading Politico Pulse’s summary of what the Department of Health and Human Services could look like in the new administration. We will write more about what to expect in 2021 over the next few weeks.

What does the 2020 election mean for ANCOR members? On Thursday, we are hosting a members-only initial debrief on the election this coming Thursday featuring lobbyists Al Guida (Guide Consulting) and Rodney Whitlock (McDermott+ Consulting), along with ANCOR’s own Shannon McCracken (Vice President, Government Relations) and Sarah Meek (Senior Director, Legislative Affairs). Members will find details about the briefing in their inboxes in an email sent Monday, as well as on the ANCOR Connected Community.