Vice President Biden, Sen. Kamala Harris are on Verge of a Historic Win for Seniors

With election officials still counting votes as the day ended, Vice President Biden is ahead of Donald Trump in the key battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania and is narrowing in on the 270 Electoral College votes necessary to make him the 46th President of the United States. Biden already flipped Michigan and Wisconsin, which voted for Trump in 2016, earlier in the week.

Biden has secured nearly 74 million votes and is currently leading Trump by 2.8 percentage points.

"Vice President Biden and Senator Kamala Harris put the issues older Americans care about at the center of their campaign,” said Alliance Executive Director Richard Fiesta. “We look forward to working with the Biden-Harris administration to strengthen and expand Social Security and Medicare, defend our pensions, lower prescription drug prices and end the pandemic.”

“We would like to thank all the Alliance members who exercised their right to vote in record numbers despite the pandemic,” said Robert Roach, Jr., President of the Alliance. “In addition to voting, you generously volunteered your time, phone banked, texted thousands of your fellow seniors and pioneered a new way of campaigning in the face of the coronavirus.”

Retirees Help Bring Biden Across the Finish Line

As expected, seniors played a critical role in the election. Exit polls show that Trump’s edge with voters over the age of 65 shrunk to 3 points this time around, down from seven four years ago. Biden pulled ahead of Trump by one point with voters between the ages of 45 and 64, a group Trump won by eight percentage points back in 2016. It appears that in several battleground states Biden won a majority of votes cast by people over the age of 65.

“Older voters compared the Biden record and plan with the Trump record, and four percent fewer older voters supported President Trump this year compared to 2016. This is not a surprise given the toll the coronavirus pandemic has taken on older Americans, the skyrocketing prices of prescription drugs, and President Trump’s promise to defund Social Security by eliminating the payroll tax if he is re-elected,” said Executive Director Fiesta.

Alliance members, other seniors and voters of all ages voted early and by mail in numbers never seen before, in large part to stay safe during the pandemic. More than 101.1 million early votes were cast in person and by mail before the polls even opened on Election Day.

The 2020 turnout is on pace to break century-old records. At least 159.8 million votes are projected to have been cast when all is said and done. In 2016, the total stood just above 136.6 million votes.

Senate and House Races Bring Important Victories, Mixed Results

As of Friday, Democrats and Republicans are deadlocked for Senate control with 48 seats each and four left to be called. Democrats won key victories in Colorado, where Democratic candidate John Hickenlooper beat incumbent Cory Gardner, and Arizona, where Mark Kelly defeated Republican incumbent Martha McSally.

The two senate races in Georgia will likely both be advancing to a January 5 runoff. Democrat Raphael Warnock will face Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed last year to finish the term of Senator Johnny Isakson after he resigned for health reasons. Warnock and Loeffler both finished ahead of Republican Doug Collins this week to make the runoff. Democrat Jon Ossoff is expected to face incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue in the other Georgia Senate race, since neither candidate has so far secured the 50% of the vote needed to avoid a runoff for that seat.

Democrats are set to keep their House majority but appear likely to lose seats in the 2020 election, according to NBC News projections. Democrats had won 212 seats and Republicans 194 as of Friday, with 29 races still undecided. Democrats are currently ahead in 9 of those 29.

“The Georgia senate run-offs present one last chance for Democrats to control the Senate,” said Joseph Peters, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. “It appears Democrats will need to win the two Georgia races in January to have a 50-50 Democratic-Republican tie in the chamber and enable Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to cast any tie-breaking votes.”

Nationwide Ballot Measure Highlights

Ballot measures around the country put a pro-worker agenda into law in some states.

• In Colorado, Proposition 118 — passed by 57% — gives workers 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, funded by a payroll tax paid split between employers and employees.
  
  
• In Florida, voters approved Amendment 2 by 61%, raising the minimum wage from its $8.56 to $10 next year, then $1 a year until it reaches $15 an hour in 2026 (and by inflation thereafter).

Higher wages strengthen the Social Security Trust Fund and mean increased Social Security benefits for the workers when they retire.

The Alliance Celebrates Veterans Day

November 11 is Veterans Day. The holiday this year coincides with the 102nd anniversary of the end of World War I and honors all of those who have served in the United States military.

“Thank you to all Alliance members who have served our country in times of conflict,” said President Roach. “We owe you a debt of gratitude for keeping us safe and protecting us. The 2020 elections brought us a reminder of how sacred our democracy is.”

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