The numbers aren't quite final, but they're close enough to where we can have a good discussion on what this election is telling us. A quick review of the results:
Barring a major revolt by the electoral college, Joe Biden has been declared the winner and is likely to receive 306 electoral votes. There's still a couple of states in doubt, including Georgia and North Carolina. The popular vote as of this morning stands at 50.68% for Biden, 47.65% for Trump. These results contrast dramatically from the predictions from the polls and other indicators.
Turnout was historically high, with more people voting than ever before. More people voted for Biden in this election than for any one candidate in any election in our history. The 2nd most votes ever received was by Donald Trump in 2020. It was the highest voter turnout percentage in over 100 years.
In the Senate, the Republicans, despite having more seats to defend by over a 2-1 margin, appear to have defied expectations and control the chamber. The current declared races shows there being a 48-48 tie, but R candidates have a substantial lead in two uncalled races in AK and NC. There are two races in Georgia that due to GA law, appear to be going to a one-on-one runoff. The Republicans seem certain to win at least one of those. The Democrats were expected to flip the Senate.
In the House, where every seat is up for re-election every 2 years, the Democrats have unofficially claimed 215 seats and are leading in 7 other contests. The Republicans have won 196 and are leading in 17 uncalled races. If these numbers hold true, the Dems will suffer a net loss of 8-10 seats. That, too, is a major surprise as Democrats weren't expected to lose ground.
Of the 11 governorships that were up for grabs, the Republicans have won 7, 5 of those in very red states. The two Dem wins are in NC and DL. No big surprises in any of those races.
So what is this election telling us? Not to trust the polls? The media? How did the pandemic affect the results? What election laws need to be addressed? Should we be relying on the USPS to the degree that we did? And where in the hell did all those Trump votes come from?