The Most Interesting Results From the 2020 Election (So Far)
On 2020 Election Night, and you were likely maniacally refreshing poll numbers, watching needles swing back and forth, and sitting glued to your TV screen as Steve Kornacki wilded out on his Big Board. (He's still going!) It could be several more hours—or days, or weeks—until we know for sure whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump is elected president.
Until then, here are 18 other interesting developments from the 2020 election. We’ll keep updating this list as results roll in from around the country.
1. Cori Bush was elected to Congress in Missouri.
In 2014, nurse Cori Bush was on the front lines of the Ferguson protests. She became the first candidate recruited by the progressive organization Justice Democrats (they've also endorsed AOC and other members of the Squad), but lost her 2016 and 2018 election bids. Third time’s the charm for this Democratic Socialists of America member: This year, she defeated Republican incumbent Lacy Clay in Missouri's First Congressional District to become the state’s first Black congresswoman.
2. Sarah McBride becomes the first trans state senator in the country.
Delaware elected the 30-year-old LGBTQ advocate to the state senate, making her the highest-ranking trans legislator in the country. GQ has more on her groundbreaking win here.
3. New Jersey votes to legalize recreational marijuana.
[Cue Springsteen guitar riff.]
4. Arizona did too.
[Cue Springsteen guitar riff again.]
5. And Oregon votes to decriminalize all the drugs, plus legalize psilocybin mushrooms.
Measure 110 passed, making the northwestern state the first to decriminalize the possession of all the drugs.
Shortly after, so did Measure 109, which now legalizes the use of psilocybin mushrooms for therapy. You can read more about the fight over Measure 109 here. Thank you, Dr. Bronner’s soap!
6. Alex from Miami did not turn Florida blue.
But our himbo hero remains our greatest Election Night character.
7. Florida did vote to increase the minimum wage to $15, though.
The change will take place over a six-year period, making Florida the first Southern state to vote in favor of the $15 minimum wage (and the eighth state in general). Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage has been hovering at $7.25 since 2009.
8. John Hickenlooper flipped a Republican Senate seat in Colorado…
Yes, the man once drank fracking fluid. But, hey, it’s…something?
9. …and Doug Jones lost the Democratic Senate seat in Alabama...
Democrat Doug Jones won in deep-red Alabama a few years back in a narrow margin after several women came out and accused his opponent, Roy Moore, of sexual abuse when they were minors. But he couldn’t hold on to it against former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville.
10. …but Mark Kelly defeated a Republican incumbent in Arizona…
Gabby Giffords’s husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, beat Republican Martha McSally for a Senate seat in the Grand Canyon state.
11. …while Republican Nicole Malliotakis snatched a Congressional seat away from incumbent Max Rose in New York's 11th District.
Looks like the constant attack ads with various Staten Island locals calling Rose “a f*ckin’ liah” paid off.
12. The first two openly gay Black men are going to Congress.
Congratulations to Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones of New York.
13. Former n+1 editor turned socialist politician Nikil Saval officially won his Pennsylvania state senate seat.
Read our June interview with Saval here.
14. Former White House doctor Ronny Jackson wins a Texas House seat.
Remember the former White House physician who claimed that Trump “has absolutely no cognitive or mental issues,” was accused of misprespcribing drugs, and thinks that face masks during the coronavirus pandemic are not a necessity but a personal choice? He’ll be going to Congress.
15. Twenty-five-year-old Republican Madison Cawthorn will become the youngest member of Congress.
The ultra-young, ultra-right Cawthorn beat the Trump-backed candidate in the primary; was accused of “predatory behavior” by former classmates; and had photos surface of him visiting Hitler’s vacation home.
His political career is already off to a promising start:
16. QAnon is headed to Congress.
Although there were several supporters of QAnon on the ballot this election cycle, the most vocal—CrossFit gym founder Marjorie Taylor Greene—sealed the deal and won a House seat in Washington. As New York magazine put it: “A believer that ‘America is being led by its genitals straight to hell,’ she’ll post about ‘elite pedophiles trafficking children’ or, just last week, about ‘Moloch worship.’ ” Should make for an awkward first day at the office.
Lauren Boebert has since distanced herself from QAnon, but the young, gun-toting right-winger took down a Republican incumbent in the primary and won a seat in Colorado's Third Congressional District.
17. A dead man was elected in North Dakota.
Republican candidate David Andahl was elected to state legislature—after dying of COVID-19 complications back in October.
18. The country had record-high turnout in voting this year.
Nearly 160 million votes are projected, with 67% of eligible voters going to the polls—the highest the turnout rate has been since 1900.
Originally Appeared on GQ
