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Election 2020 updates: Biden warns of 'dark winter,' pushes masks in pandemic plan

The president-elect emphasized how he would handle the pandemic response.

ByCatherine Thorbecke, Morgan Winsor, Libby Cathey, Adia Robinson, Lauren King, Emily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, and Marc Nathanson
Last Updated: November 10, 2020, 10:14 AM EST

Joe Biden is set to become the 46th president of the United States, capping a tumultuous and tension-filled campaign during a historic pandemic against President Donald Trump. ABC News characterized Joe Biden as the apparent winner of his home state of Pennsylvania, putting him over the 270 vote threshold needed to capture the presidency.

The hard-fought battle against the president was set against the backdrop of racial unrest and the coronavirus pandemic and bitter divisions among the electorate.

Trump had falsely declared on election night, when he held a lead in several key states, that he won the contest and alleged without evidence, after the count started to swing the other way, that the election was being stolen from him and that fraud had been committed.

Painting the election as a "battle for the soul of the nation," Biden won on a message of unity over division, compassion over anger, and reality over what he called Trump's "wishful thinking" as the coronavirus pandemic cast a heavy shadow over the campaign.

The 2020 election has shattered voting records with votes totaling 147 million and counting, surpassing the 138 million who voted in 2016.

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Here's how election week unfolded. All times Eastern.
Nov 05, 2020, 10:18 PM EST

Trump leading by fewer than 2,000 votes in Georgia

Trump now leads in Georgia by 1,797 votes as the margin gets tighter following the latest reporting out of Clayton, Rockdale and Forsyth counties.

Just south of Atlanta, Clayton is the fifth-most-populated county in the state. Nearly two-thirds or 73% of its residents are Black and another 13% are Hispanic/Latino, according to U.S. Census estimates.

Supporters of President Donald Trump gather outside the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Nov. 5, 2020.
Brandon Bell/Reuters

Hillary Clinton won this county by a 70-point margin in 2016, earning about 78,000 votes. Biden currently has over 90,000 votes in Clayton.

Clinton won Rockdale County by a 26-point margin in 2016. Biden's margin is even bigger, at 40.8 points.

Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump.
AFP via Getty Images, FILES

The candidates are neck-and-neck in Georgia -- 49.4% to 49.4% -- as Trump leads slightly with 2,447,337 votes to Biden's 2,445,540.

There were about 16,000 outstanding ballots as of 8:40 p.m., according to the Georgia secretary of state.

-ABC News' Quinn Scanlan

Nov 05, 2020, 9:55 PM EST

If 2018 was the year of the woman, 2020 is the year of even more women

At least 106 women will serve in the House, based on the latest ABC News projections, eclipsing the previous record of 102 set in 2019, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. 

Of those, at least 46 are women of color, which is also record-setting, beating out the record of 44 set in 2019.

Republican women are making up significant ground after 2018, with at least 24 projected by ABC News to win their contests. The current total stands just shy of the record of 25 GOP women serving in the House, which was set in 2006. 

The Capitol is seen on the morning of Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020, in Washington.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Some of the winners include Stephanie Bice in Oklahoma's 5th Congressional District, Ashley Hinson in Iowa's 1st Congressional District and Michelle Fischbach in Minnesota's 7th Congressional District, who all flipped Democratic-held seats. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia's 14th Congressional District and Lauren Boebert in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District -- two controversial candidates who either embraced or showed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory -- will be among the GOP's ranks in the next Congress.

-ABC News' Kendall Karson

Nov 05, 2020, 9:30 PM EST

Latest totals from Arizona's Maricopa County cut into Biden's lead

New vote totals from Arizona's Maricopa County slightly reduce Biden’s lead in the Grand Canyon State.

Statewide, the former vice president leads Trump 50.3% to 48.3%, with Biden up by 46,257 votes. That new vote total is a decrease of about a thousand ballots for Biden. 

Supporters of President Donald Trump hold placards during a protest about the early results of the 2020 presidential election, in front of the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Nov. 5, 2020.
Cheney Orr/Reuters

In Maricopa County, Biden leads Trump 51% to 47.6%, with 944,285 votes compared to the president's 880,347. Arizona's most populous county has an estimated 224,866 ballots left to count.

In the Arizona Senate race, Democratic candidate Mark Kelly leads Republican Sen. Martha McSally 52% to 48%, with 1,565,506 votes compared to McSally's 1,462,532.

ABC News has not made a projection in either race out of Arizona.

-ABC News' Meg Cunningham

Nov 05, 2020, 9:21 PM EST

Some Republicans vocalize their support for Trump's comments

While some Republicans rebuked the president's remarks on Thursday night, others supported and even echoed his comments.

Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton tweeted "all votes that are *legally* cast should be counted."

"There is NO excuse not to allow poll watchers to observe counting," he added, also tweeting a link to the president's legal defense fund.

Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley also tweeted in support of Trump.

"The American people, whatever their party, deserve total transparency in the election vote," he said. "Allow poll watchers to be present as ballots counted. Full accounting of all ballots. Ban ballot harvesting."

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