With another Florida loss, Democrats begin second guessing
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Perhaps only in Florida is a loss by fewer than 4 percentage points considered a public drubbing. In a state famous for razor-thin margins, the size of former Vice President Joe Biden’s loss to President Donald Trump was humiliating for Democrats and sent many searching for answers...
Tanzania’s leader sworn in for 2nd term after troubled vote
DODOMA, Tanzania — Tanzania’s populist President John Magufuli took the oath of office for a second five-year term amid tight security Thursday after the opposition called for a fresh election, the disbandment of the electoral commission and an “endless peaceful demonstration” over the Oct. 28 vote. Magufuli over the weekend...
Biden pushes closer to victory in race for the White House
Democrat Joe Biden was pushing closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House, securing victories in the “blue wall” battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan and narrowing President Donald Trump’s path. With just a handful of states still up for grabs, Trump tried to press his...
Biden has the presidency in his reach, with Pa. in the balance and Trump railing against counting votes
SCRANTON, Pa. — Joe Biden appeared to be on the cusp of winning the presidency Wednesday, even as Pennsylvania’s election results remained uncertain and President Donald Trump made increasingly desperate attempts to stop the vote count. Biden won the critical swing states of Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to The...
Trump backers converge on vote centers in Michigan, Arizona
Dozens of angry supporters of President Donald Trump converged on vote-counting centers in Detroit and Phoenix as the returns went against him Wednesday in the two key states, while thousands of anti-Trump protesters demanding a complete tally of the ballots in the still-undecided election took to the streets in cities...
Ivory Coast’s Soro calls on military to disobey president
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Prominent dissident Guillaume Soro, a former prime minister who was blocked from running in Ivory Coast’s presidential election, called Wednesday on the country’s military to disobey President Alassane Ouattara after he was allowed to win a controversial third term. Soro’s comments via his Facebook account put...
The monthslong political saga that guaranteed a long vote count in Pennsylvania
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — It didn’t have to be this way in Pennsylvania. Yes, the state’s universal mail voting law is only a...
Shapiro takes lead in attorney general race, but row office contests still up for grabs
Democratic incumbent Josh Shapiro took the lead over Republican challenger Heather Heidelbaugh in the race for Pennsylvania attorney general Thursday morning, reversing the lead held by Heidelbaugh the day before. Republican candidates continue to lead in the races for auditor general and state treasurer. But with mail-in votes, which tend...
Democrats win big in Arizona, now a former GOP stronghold
PHOENIX — Democrats have been asking the question for a long time: Is this the year Arizona turns blue? In 2020, the answer was “yes.” Joe Biden won Arizona’s 11 electoral votes for president and Mark Kelly won a seat in the U.S. Senate, ushering in an era of Democratic...
Claim that Sharpie pens ruin Arizona ballots misses the mark
As states across the U.S. release vote totals for the presidential election, some social media users are falsely claiming that ballots are being invalidated in Arizona. The supposed culprit: Sharpie markers. In what’s come to be known as #Sharpiegate, social media posts suggest that election officials in Maricopa County provided...
England readies for new lockdown with retail therapy, final pints
LONDON — Last-minute shoppers in England came out in force Wednesday and thirsty drinkers planned their final freshly poured pints in a pub for the next month as Britain prepared to join large swaths of Europe in a coronavirus lockdown designed to save its health care system from being overwhelmed....
‘You killed my son!’ Philly releases bodycam footage and 911 calls in police killing of Walter Wallace Jr.
PHILADELPHIA — In the moments before two Philadelphia police officers fatally shot Walter Wallace Jr. outside his family’s West Philadelphia home last week, the officers repeatedly told Wallace to put down a knife he was holding, while people on the street yelled that Wallace was “mental” and screamed “no” as...
San Francisco voters approve taxes on CEOs, big businesses
SAN FRANCISCO — Addressing economic disparity laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic, San Francisco voters overwhelmingly approved several tax measures targeting landlords and big businesses whose CEOs earn far higher than their average workers. Under the new law, any company that pays its top executive 100 times more than their...
AG: North Dakota governor can’t fill dead candidate’s seat
BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has no authority to appoint a coal company executive to fill a state House seat won by a Republican candidate who died before the election, the attorney general said Wednesday. Burgum announced Wednesday that he was appointing BNI Energy President Wade Boeshans...
In blue and red states, milestone wins for LGBTQ candidates
NEW YORK — Across the nation, LGBTQ candidates achieved milestone victories in Tuesday’s election, including the first transgender person elected to a state Senate, and the first openly gay Black men to win seats in Congress. The landmark wins came not in only blue but also red states such as...
After federal judge’s order, Postal Service sweep finds 13 ballotsVideo
U.S. Postal Service inspectors found just 13 ballots — all in Pennsylvania — during an Election Day sweep of mail processing centers ordered by a federal judge. The ballots were found in two separate mail processing facilities and were expedited for delivery to local election offices, according to court records...
Pennsylvania’s presidential vote could be moot before it is even finished
After more than five dozen campaign visits to Pennsylvania by President Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden and an estimated $100 million in campaign and PAC spending, the final count in the Keystone State’s election could be insignificant in determining Tuesday’s national outcome. The state — with 20 Electoral College...
Jittery public turns to liquor, news as presidential race’s fate hangsVideo
PHILADELPHIA — They clung to their cocktails and proclaimed themselves sick with dread. They relentlessly checked the news and went outdoors for fresh air. They bemoaned a wipeout wave that never came and held out hope their favored candidate would still eke out a win. With the fate of the...
Trump sues in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, laying ground for contesting outcome
WASHINGTON — As Democrat Joe Biden inched closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, President Donald Trump’s campaign put into action the legal strategy the president had signaled for weeks: attacking the integrity of the voting process in states where the result could mean...
Will you trust the election results regardless of the outcome?Video
President Donald Trump’s campaign is filing lawsuits over ballot counting in Michigan and threatening to do so in other states. Similar election-related lawsuits were filed in Pennsylvania over the previous several weeks. All of which leaves voters wondering whether society will accept the results of this year’s presidential election if...
Maine GOP Sen. Collins beats Sara Gideon in hard-fought race in Maine
PORTLAND, Maine — Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has won the hardest-fought race of her career, turning back a challenge by Democrat Sara Gideon. Collins survived to serve a fifth term following a costly race that was viewed as pivotal to control of the Senate. Collins, one of...
Public health may be U.S. election loser as coronavirus surges
Regardless of the presidential election outcome, a vexing issue remains to be decided: Will the U.S. be able to tame a perilous pandemic that is surging as holidays, winter and other challenges approach? Public health experts fear the answer is no, at least in the short term, with potentially dire...
Puerto Rico awaits final result in tight gubernatorial race
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — People across Puerto Rico awaited final results Wednesday of elections that saw long lines of voters and produced a tight gubernatorial race in the U.S. Caribbean territory. Pedro Pierluisi of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party held a slight lead over Carlos Delgado of the Popular...
Democrats’ Senate drive halted by GOP, but control teeters
WASHINGTON — Democrats faced increasingly long odds in the the battle for Senate control as Republicans brushed back multiple challengers to protect their majority. Still, it was too soon for the GOP to declare victory. In Maine, Republican Sen. Susan Collins won the hardest-fought race of her career, securing a...
Pet Valu plans to close all U.S. stores due to ‘severe impact from covid-19’
Pet Valu Inc., a pet food retailer with several stores in the Pittsburgh region, on Wednesday announced plans to wind down its U.S. operations “due to severe impact from covid-19.” Pet Valu said it expects its 358 U.S. stores and warehouses, scattered throughout the Northeast and Midwest, and its U.S....
