Biden Overcomes Large Deficit To Pull Ahead Of Trump In Pennsylvania

Plus: The ‘Firsts’ Of The U.S. 2020 Election

TOPLINE

Joe Biden took a narrow lead in Pennsylvania over President Trump on Friday morning as counting of mail-in ballots erased a once-substantial deficit, pulling ahead by approximately 5,000 votes and putting the Democrat on the doorstep of winning the White House—though the race is still too early to call.

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KEY FACTS

•	According to Associated Press projections, Biden currently leads Trump 264-214 in the Electoral College.

•	If Biden wins Pennsylvania and its 20 Electoral College votes, he would win the White House with 284 votes.

•	The Associated Press—which is exercising extra caution due to the difficulty of projecting elections this year amid the large number of mail ballots—has yet to call the state.

•	As recently as 7 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Trump led by 700,000 votes in the state, prompting members of the Trump campaign to falsely declare victory.

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Since then, the gap has steadily shrunk as mail-in ballots from heavily Democratic areas were counted, a shift in momentum that election experts predicted, in part because Democrats were more likely to vote by mail to avoid the risk of contracting Covid-19 at polling places, as well as because Pennsylvania did not permit counting of mail-in ballots to begin until Election Day.

•	Biden also took a very slim lead of about 1,000 votes in Georgia early Friday morning, though the race has not been called.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

The Associated Press has called Arizona for Biden, but the Democrat’s lead has significantly shrunk, prompting some outlets to hold back from calling the state. Even if Arizona flipped back to Trump, Biden would still win the White House with a victory in Pennsylvania.