First, hats off to the people in the state of Iowa. According to the Secretary of State Paul Pate?s office, Iowa set an all-time high in voter turnout yesterday. The office said the gain was almost 100,000 votes.
Tweet from Iowa Secretary of State’s office.
According to the Secretary of State?s office, all 99 counties and 1,661 precincts have reported. Here are the results we have so far.
President: President Trump carried Iowa by a little over eight percentage points. He garnered 893,649 to Former Vice President Joe Biden?s 755,428.
U.S. Senate: Incumbent Republican Junior Senator Joni Ernst defeated Democratic Challenger Theresa Greenfield. Ernst captured 697,787 votes to Greenfield?s 536,402.
Audio: Senator Joni Ernst address supporters after her win
U.S. House of Representatives (by District):
- In the First Congressional District, Republican Challenger Ashley Hinson defeated Democratic incumbent Abby Finkenauer. The count is 211,573 -200,814.
- The Second Congressional District is the closest Federal race of the night. Both candidates looked to replace retiring Democratic Congressman Dave Loebsack. Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks won by less than 300 votes over her Democratic opponent Rita Hart. The count is currently 196,769 ? 196,486 respectively.
- In the Third Congressional District rematch of 2018, Democratic Incumbent Cindy Axne once again defeated her challenger Republican David Young. The count was 218,968 for Axne to Young?s 212,727.
- The Fourth District was a contest to see who will replace Republican Steve King, who was defeated in the Republican Primary Election. This was the only of the four Congressional contests that was not close. Republican Randy Feenstra has a 234,159 ? 142,322 over his Democratic challenger J.D. Scholten.
State legislative races are too numerous to cover in this story. You can find those results through the Iowa Secretary of State official website.
I spoke with a staff member at the Iowa Secretary of State?s office this morning. The staff member told me that none of these numbers are yet certified. The numbers will not be ?official? until the state canvases the counties. There are still mail-in ballots yet to be counted. The number of mail-in ballots estimated to be counted will be announced later this morning. Mail-in ballots in Iowa had to be postmarked by Monday, November 2nd and must be received by Monday, November 9th to be counted.
In the races that are close, there are some things to consider. There is no automatic trigger of a recount in close elections in the state of Iowa. However, any candidate can request a recount.
Information from the Secretary of State?s office as it comes in.
The intrigue?
As we look at results on Wednesday morning, one thing all media outlets are agreeing on is that neither President Trump nor Former Vice President Joe Biden has the 270 electoral votes required to be confirmed as the winner. There are toss-ups between many sources on whether Arizona flipped for Biden or not. The same is with the State of Maine. Right now, there is an agreement that those states are leaning towards Biden, but Arizona?s count is still going on. Maine also has a split in its Electoral votes, which means there can be, and probably will be, a split between Biden and Trump.
Counts are still happening in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia as well. These are battleground states that many are saying are ?too close to call? for either candidate. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin could not start even looking at mail-in ballots until 7 am, local times, on Tuesday. This means there are a lot of ballots still to be counted. Nevada has already said that they don?t expect to be done until Thursday at least.
Audio: Remarks from President Trump, early Wednesday morning.
Early on Wednesday, President Trump told supporters in the White House that his lead was insurmountable. He said in many races, ?they can?t catch us.? Trump also said that this is, ?a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to the country.? He added, ?we don?t want them to find ballots at 4 am and count them.? The President also said he is prepared to go to the United States Supreme Court to stop ballot counting. This has drawn fire from people on both sides of the political spectrum who say that every legally submitted ballot deserves to be counted. Vice President Joe Biden said that he felt he was, ?on track to win?, and ?it is my place or Donald Trump?s place to declare who has won this election. That?s the decision of the American people.?
Audio: Joe Biden remarks from Early Wednesday Morning
Legal analysts say that even if the President wants to stop counting and challenge counts, he cannot go directly to the Supreme Court. He must start at the state level in each state he plans to contest. Biden?s campaign has already said that they are ready to fight the battle to have every vote counted, in court, if necessary.
In Agriculture:
The biggest national story from election night is going to be on the House Ag Committee. Minnesota Congressman and House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-7th) lost his bid for reelection. This means with the retirement of Ranking Member Michael Conaway (R-TX 11th), there will be new leadership on the House Ag Committee in the next Congress. How will this change policy regarding the balance between Ag and Nutrition titles? Many lawmakers want to see them divided. Many times, Chairman Peterson has said that he fought to keep them together because, without the nutrition titles, there would be no Farm Bill.
In Congress:
It looks like Democrats will retain control of the House of Representatives, though they seem to have lost a little of their majority. The Senate is still too early to call at this point. With a few races left to call, the Senate is in a 47-46 Republican advantage. More races will be decided in the coming hours and days.
