Biden pulls ahead of Trump in Georgia, but the race isn't over


Democrat Joe Biden pulled ahead of President Trump in Georgia at about 4:30 a.m. on Friday, when a tranche of votes from Clayton County shifted Biden from a small deficit to a lead of more than 1,000 votes. If Biden were to hold on to Georgia — news organizations are expected to refrain from projecting a winner for days or even weeks — he would be the first Democrat to win the state since Bill Clinton.
Officials in Clayton County, represented by the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), stayed up all night to count their ballots, even as other counties took a pause for the night. Most of the outstanding votes are expected to favor Biden, but there are also some uncounted provisional, military, and overseas ballots, and nobody is sure how those will land politically. Whichever candidate ends up behind when all the votes are counted is also presumed to ask for a recount. Nevertheless, Biden supporters — those still awake in the small hours of the morning — celebrated the moment and that it happened in Lewis territory.
Georgia would not push Biden to 270 electoral votes, based on most projections, but it does set up the increasingly vanishing possibility of a 269-269 tie. The latest votes also dropped Sen. David Perdue (R) another notch below 50 percent, and Democrat Jon Ossoff up a notch, making it more likely Georgia will have two Senate runoff elections Jan. 5, 2021.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Holy mate-trimony: the rise of 'friendship marriages'
Under the Radar Young people in China, Japan and the US are saying 'I do' to platonic unions, to alleviate social pressure or loneliness and access financial benefits
-
Deportations ensnare migrant families, U.S. citizens
Feature Trump's deportation crackdown is sweeping up more than just immigrants as ICE targets citizens, judges and nursing mothers
-
Trump shrugs off warnings over trade war costs
Feature Trump's tariffs are spiraling the U.S. toward an economic crisis as shipments slow down—and China doesn't plan to back down
-
Putin talks nukes as Kyiv slated for US air defenses
speed read 'I hope they will not be required,' Putin said of nuclear weapons on Russian state TV
-
US, Ukraine sign joint minerals deal
speed read The Trump administration signed a deal with Ukraine giving the US access to its mineral wealth
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Israel launches air strike on Beirut suburbs
Speed Read The attack targeting Hezbollah was Israel's third on the Lebanese capital since November's ceasefire
-
Dozens dead in Kashmir as terrorists target tourists
Speed Read Visitors were taking pictures and riding ponies in a popular mountain town when assailants open fired, killing at least 26
-
Israel blames 'failures' for killing of medics
speed read 14 Gaza medics and 1 U.N. employee were killed by IDF special forces
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designation
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
China accuses NSA of Winter Games cyberattacks
speed read China alleges that the U.S. National Security Agency launched cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games in February