The Associated Press has confirmed a record-breaking result for Arizona in the U.S. election 2020. Former VP Joe Biden bags the lead in the long-time heavily Republican state—a first since 1996.
A Democrat presidential candidate has never won in the state of Arizona since 1996 until today, as projected by AP. Arizona holds a whopping 11 electoral votes, which makes all the big difference. News outlets report that the U.S. Presidential election is down to key states, for either party to claim victory.
History in the making
Arizona, as AP mentioned, is a longtime Republican stronghold. President Donald Trump won the southwestern state in 2016 against Hillary Clinton. However, it appears that the state “changing demographics” and swing voters became favorable for Joe Biden.
Joe Biden would be the third Democrat presidential candidate to bag a win in Arizona, following Bill Clinton during the 1996 U.S. election. The first was in 1948 with President Harry S. Truman.
Joe Biden is the first Democrat in 24 years to win Arizona. I’d like to imagine it as John McCain getting the last laugh.
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) November 4, 2020
Aside from choosing a Democrat presidential candidate, Arizona also chose Mark Kelly, a former astronaut, over Republican Senator Martha McSally. This would also be a first for the state since 1952.
BREAKING: Joe Biden wins Arizona. #APracecall at 12:51 a.m. MST. #Election2020 https://t.co/lGfinjTqT4
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 4, 2020
Change in demographics
Accordingly, AP conducted a survey revealing that 61% of the voters in the state believe “the U.S. is on the wrong track.”
Furthermore, Los Angeles reports that the “growing numbers of Latinos and college-educated suburban voters are making Democrats ascendant.”
AP calling Arizona for Biden. This is HUGE tonight for all of the reasons.
— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) November 4, 2020
In fact, AP interviewed a few of the voters in Arizona and one said, “Our current president has said so many bad things about Hispanic people, Black people, calling our current virus the ‘Chinese virus.’ I couldn’t really side with him.”
Meanwhile, it appears that the demographics within the 65 and above age range, has “split between the parties,” says The New York Times.
“We’ve got more and more people willing to come out of the closet as liberals,” says 82-year-old Phyllis Minsuk to the same outlet. ” “But even those who won’t declare themselves Democrats, who want to stay secret, they are moving with us. I hear it from them in whispers anywhere I go.“
87 electoral votes remaining
As of this writing, Joe Biden is ahead with 238 electoral votes, compared to Trump’s 213. NPR notes there is still 87 electoral votes “yet to be called.”
To win the election, a presidential candidate should acquire 270 electoral votes.
Meanwhile, everyone else is on a focused lookout in critical swing states: Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina.
The latest update in Wisconsin reveals a snatch in lead favoring Joe Biden, but it is definitely a tight race, per a separate report from AP.
Featured image courtesy of jlhervàs/Flickr