Biden now approaching 270

 

UPDATE: Several news organizations have “called” the states of Wisconsin and Michigan for former vice president Joe Biden. Those victories – if sustained – bring the Democratic challenger up to 253 Electoral College votes. President Donald Trump has 213 electoral votes. To win the presidency, Biden must win 270 votes.

The Donald Trump campaign has requested a recount in Wisconsin and sued to stop the counting of votes in Michigan.

Biden is also leading, narrowly, in Arizona and Nevada. Some media outlets have already called Arizona for Biden. Update as of 2 p.m.

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As Americans woke up Wednesday, they found that not much had changed from the night before in the national presidential and Congressional elections.

Here’s how the situation stands as of 11 a.m.

• Democrat Joe Biden holds a lead in the popular vote with 70,184,937 votes (50.2 percent) to Republican President Donald Trump with 67,403,839 (48.2 percent).
• Biden also has a lead in the Electoral College, but where and how much varies according to the news agency that reports it. Fox News has Biden ahead by 238 to 213, with six states still “uncalled.” In three of those – Nevada, Wisconsin and Michigan – Biden holds a lead while in the other three, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia gives the edge to the president.
• In most of those battleground states, large numbers of votes are still being counted.
• The New York Times shows Biden with 227 electoral votes to 213 for Trump. Its map shows Nevada and Arizona still “too close to call.”
• President Trump claimed victory early Wednesday morning; Biden asked for patience from his supporters but expressed confidence in victory.
• The Trump campaign has asked for a recount in Wisconsin, where Biden has a lead of less than 30,000 votes.
• Democrats are on target to retain control of the House of Representatives, but will probably fall short of a majority in the Senate.