The president-elect emphasized how he would handle the pandemic response.
Joe Biden is set to become the 46th president of the United States, capping a tumultuous and tension-filled campaign during a historic pandemic against President Donald Trump. ABC News characterized Joe Biden as the apparent winner of his home state of Pennsylvania, putting him over the 270 vote threshold needed to capture the presidency.
The hard-fought battle against the president was set against the backdrop of racial unrest and the coronavirus pandemic and bitter divisions among the electorate.
Trump had falsely declared on election night, when he held a lead in several key states, that he won the contest and alleged without evidence, after the count started to swing the other way, that the election was being stolen from him and that fraud had been committed.
Painting the election as a "battle for the soul of the nation," Biden won on a message of unity over division, compassion over anger, and reality over what he called Trump's "wishful thinking" as the coronavirus pandemic cast a heavy shadow over the campaign.
The 2020 election has shattered voting records with votes totaling 147 million and counting, surpassing the 138 million who voted in 2016.
ABC Chief Political Analyst Matthew Dowd said "it's clear" that Trump voters are turning out this election.
"It's not as if the African American vote's not turning out and there's a problem -- they're turning out, but the counter to that is Donald Trump's supporters are turning out, even in greater numbers than they did in 2016."
Biden will win the Pacific West Coast -- taking California, Oregon and Washington -- ABC News projects, and raising his Electoral College standing to 187 votes.
ABC News projects Trump will win Wyoming and Mississippi, raising his Electoral College standing to 114 votes.
The polls are closing in California, Oregon, Washington, parts of Idaho and parts of Alaska.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a key ally to Trump, will win his South Carolina Senate race, ABC News projects.
Graham defeats Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, a former lobbyist and state Democratic Party chairman, who quite literally gave Graham a run for his money in what became the state’s most expensive Senate contest to date.
In a concession speech posted to Twitter, Harrison said, "We didn't get the result at the ballot box that we wanted, but we showed courage and determination. We brought hope back to South Carolina."
