Thursday, Nov. 5 will be a BIG DAY in Pennsylvania…can Biden get it done???
by Rob Taylor Jr., Courier Staff Writer — 6 a.m., Nov. 5, 2020
The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned that Joe Biden has received 28,425 more votes in Allegheny County than the Democratic nominee in 2016, Hillary Clinton, and there’s still more votes to be counted in Pennsylvania’s second most-populous county.
There’s also been an increase in votes for President Donald Trump from 2016 (259,480) to 2020 (267,838), but the increase (8,358) is less than a third of Biden’s increase.
Biden’s campaign repeatedly has wanted to increase Democratic support in the form of votes in the state’s big cities like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, anticipating a surge of Election Day support from Trump supporters in Central Pa. and other rural areas. While Allegheny County has seven more precincts from which to count votes beginning Thursday, Nov. 5, it’s clear that Biden’s support in the county was higher than Clinton’s four years ago.
Still, the pain-staking, multi-million dollar question remains: Will the additional support for Biden from Allegheny County, mixed with the wave of Biden votes continuing to be counted in Philadelphia County, be enough to overtake Trump’s near-165,000 vote lead and give Biden Pennsylvania?
As of 6 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, Trump has 3,215,969 votes in Pa, or 51 percent. Biden has 3,051,555 votes in Pa., or 48 percent. A quick check of the calculator says that Trump is up by 164,414 votes ahead of Biden heading into Thursday, Nov. 5.
If Biden wins Pennsylvania, he wins the presidency. It can’t be made any more clear. Biden is coming into Thursday, Nov. 5 with 253 electoral votes to Trump’s 213, according to CNN. Remember, 270 electoral votes are needed to win the election, and Pennsylvania has 20 electoral votes. Biden takes Pa., and it puts him up to 273, and over the finish line.
But…Pennsylvania still has hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots to be counted, primarily in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. The Courier cannot confirm the exact number of mail-in ballots that remain to be counted. The Biden camp believes that the majority of the remaining mail-in ballots will go in their favor.
If Trump eventually wins Pennsylvania, that doesn’t automatically mean that he will win the presidency. It would get Trump up to 233 electoral votes, with the states North Carolina (15 electoral votes), Georgia (16), Arizona (11), Alaska (3) and Nevada (6) still to be decided.
Trump won Pennsylvania by only 44,000 votes in 2016. It’s a state that usually goes to the Democrats. Joe Biden and wife, Jill, will be dancing on the stage in victory if Pennsylvania goes to Biden.
Thursday, Nov. 5, will truly be an eventful day. Let the counting begin. It’s Election Day in Black Pittsburgh….. “Day 3.”
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