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June 23, 2021

The Talbot Spy

The nonprofit e-newspaper for the Talbot County Community

News Maryland News

Foxwell, Franchot’s Former Top Adviser, Launching Communications Firm

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Len Foxwell, the veteran political strategist who until recently was the longtime top adviser to Maryland Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D), is setting up his own communications shop.

Foxwell on Thursday is set to announce the creation of Tred Avon Strategies ― a firm named after the Tred Avon River, a tributary of the Choptank on the Eastern Shore, where Foxwell grew up and lives.

“As the founder, principal and only full-time employee of this new firm, I’m excited about the chance to put my 25 years of experience at the highest levels of Maryland politics and government to work on behalf of my clients,” Foxwell says in a Facebook post that’s due to go live Thursday morning. “Whether you are a business owner trying to survive the most volatile economy of our lifetime, an aspirant for political office, or a community advocate who is fighting for meaningful change, I’ll be there for every step of your journey.”

Foxwell will work out of the Annapolis office of Capitol Strategies, LLC, the lobbying firm at One State Circle, across the street from the State House. His firm will have an administrative relationship with Capitol Strategies but will otherwise be an independent entity.

One of the partners at Capitol Strategies is Sushant Sidh, Foxwell’s brother-in-law. Foxwell in his Facebook message refers to Sidh and Capitol Strategies’ other principal, David Carroll, as his “strategic partners.”

Foxwell was asked to resign as Franchot’s chief of staff earlier this fall, following the former’s admission of a personal indiscretion. He had been the comptroller’s top aide since 2008 and had been advising Franchot ― formally or informally ― for almost two decades.

Foxwell has been an integral part of Franchot’s political rise, and the comptroller earlier this week announced that he had hired the Baltimore-based consulting firm Tidemore Strategies to be his principal advisers for his 2022 gubernatorial campaign.

But Foxwell also became a lightning rod for controversy in recent years, with provocative social media posts that attacked Democratic leaders and conservative Republicans.

Foxwell’s career began well before his time with Franchot. He served in a variety of political and policy roles under former Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D); worked on the gubernatorial campaign of former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D); was community and government relations director for Salisbury University, his alma mater; and was director of government relations for the Greater Washington Board of Trade. He also teaches a communications course at Johns Hopkins University.

Foxwell has also offered informal advice to scores of politicians, including Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), community groups and business entities ― especially the state’s craft brewery industry, which Foxwell and Franchot have fiercely championed.

Tred Avon Strategies’ new website features testimonials from state Sen. Mary L. Washington (D-Baltimore City), Salisbury Mayor Jacob Day, and Julie Verratti, co-owner of Denizens Brewing Co., which has tap rooms in Silver Spring and Riverdale.

Foxwell is hanging his shingle at the start of a consequential election cycle in Maryland and his services could be quite sought after.

In an interview, Foxwell said he had signed up a few clients but wasn’t prepared to name them yet.

“I’m going to allow them to announce our relationship on their own timeframe,” he said.

By Josh Kurtz

Maryland Electors Cast Votes for Biden, Harris in Socially Distant State House Ceremony

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Maryland’s 10 electors cast their votes for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Monday, sealing an historic win for the Democratic candidates in the state.

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) called for a “peaceful transition of power” before the Democratic electors cast their votes at the Maryland State House on Monday. Hogan was one of the first prominent Republicans to publicly acknowledge Biden’s victory as President Trump refused to concede.

“The peaceful transition of power that we formally take part in here today is a hallmark of our democracy,” Hogan said. “At times it has been tested, sometimes even questioned, but it is a reminder that, despite our differences, we are united as Americans who honor the will of the people through the greatest and most enduring democratic process that the world has ever known.”

The Certificate of Vote for Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president, signed by the members of Maryland’s Electoral College. Photo from the Maryland State Board of Elections.

Biden and Harris need 270 of the 538 Electoral College votes to win the presidential election. The pair will receive 306 votes, based on the results of the Nov. 3 election, including all 10 of Maryland’s votes.

Biden and Harris received more votes in Maryland than any previous presidential ticket in the state’s history, Maryland Democratic Party Chair Yvette Lewis said. The pair defeated President Trump by a margin of 65.4% to 32.2% in the state.

“Their vote today is the first step of many in healing age-old divisions, addressing the hardships ahead, and building our country back better,” Lewis said.

Gloria G. Lawlah, the former Maryland Secretary of Aging and the president of the state’s Electoral College, called the vote a “repudiation of hate.”

“Today we are turning the page,” Lawlah said. “We are ensuring a better nation for our children, for our grandchildren, and a better nation for generations to come.“

While the Electoral College will seal Biden’s victory on Monday, the results could be challenged by Republican members of Congress. The New York Times reported that some of the president’s loyalists in Congress are planning to attempt a last-minute challenge in the House of Representatives, which is controlled by Democrats.

Congress will meet in a joint session on Jan. 6 to tally and confirm the Electoral College’s votes. Although Trump has continued to rail against the election results, he said last month that he would leave the White House if the votes go to Biden.

Both the House and Senate would have to agree to toss out the election results, although constitutional scholars and even congressional Republicans told the Times that such a challenge will almost certainly fail.

By Bennett Leckrone

Supreme Court Denies Texas’ Request to Sue Other States Over Election Results

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The nation’s highest court on Friday denied a request by the Texas attorney general to challenge the presidential election results in four other states.

Seven of the U.S. Supreme Court’s nine justices — including the three appointed by President Donald Trump — said Texas had no standing to sue another state over the manner in which it conducts its elections.

“Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections,” the majority ruled.

The remaining two justices — Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas — said the court had to allow the filing of any such “original jurisdiction” case, “but would not grant other relief.”

The Supreme Court usually only hears appeals, but has original jurisdiction as a trial court for particular cases, including when one state sues another. Lawsuits between states have typically involved boundary and water rights disputes.

 

 

Harris Joins GOP’s High Court Bid Challenging Biden Victory

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Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson has been joined by 125 Republican colleagues, including First District Congressman Andrew P. Harris, in seeking to join a lawsuit filed by the Texas attorney general challenging the presidential election results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, filed the suit earlier this week with the U.S. Supreme Court. The four states have asked the case to be dismissed and numerous parties have asked to intervene or file amicus briefs.

Paxton claims election officials in those four states illegally changed voting laws, affecting the outcome of the election.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh is among a group of attorney generals who have opposed the case.

“Our country held a free and fair election with record turnout in the midst of a pandemic,” Frosh said in a statement. “Despite multiple losses in courts across the country, the President and his allies continue to peddle false claims of voter fraud. These actions are an abuse of the legal system. It is time to end the misinformation and accept the choice of the people.”

Electors in Maryland and other states are scheduled to meet Dec. 14 to cast their votes in the presidential election.

Rep. Harris’s office did not respond to an email request for comment on his decision to join Rep. Johnson’s motion.

To look at the docket in the case, go to https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/22o155.html.

 

Board of Canvassers Certifies State Election Results; Biden Wins Record Margin

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The Maryland Board of Canvassers certified the state’s election results during a virtual meeting on Friday, bringing an historic and unconventional election to a close.

In the presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Trump 65.4% to 32.2% — a record-setting margin in the modern era.

Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D), a critic of election officials in the leadup to the election, reiterated his apology to Election Administrator and Board of Canvassers Secretary Linda H. Lamone before he and other board members remotely certified the results.

“The people of Maryland owe you a lot more than a six-pack of Maryland craft beer,” Franchot said.

Maryland Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp (D) said she felt the election went “very smoothly, despite how difficult it was.” Lamone said turnout was high, and voters were evenly split between using mail-in ballots and turning out to vote in person.

Secretary of State John C. Wobensmith said he felt the November election was an improvement over the June primary, during which late mail-in ballot deliveries and long in-person voting lines stoked fears of election errors.

“I was impressed with the fact that a number of the issues that had arisen from the primary election, you all fixed,” Wobensmith said.

Officials faced a slew of challenges in the leadup to the election, from printing millions of ballots and applications to finding election workers to fill thousands of vacancies. Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) said the election went “extraordinarily” well despite those challenges.

He went on to thank election volunteers who stepped up at the 11th hour to help in-person voting run smoothly.

“This was a tough time, but it was perhaps even tougher for the folks on the ground on election day,” Frosh said.

The Maryland Board of Canvassers consist of Frosh, Franchot, Kopp, Wobensmith and Clerk of the Court of Appeals Suzanne C. Johnson.

The results, which were independently audited following the receipt and counting of all timely and properly submitted ballots, will be officially presented in a meeting of Maryland’s electors at the State House on Dec. 14.

A copy of the state electors’ vote for president and vice president will subsequently be forwarded to the president of the U.S. Senate for counting during a joint session of the United States Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

Click here for the official results.

By Bennett Leckrone

Bradshaw Earns Decisive Victory in Cambridge Mayoral Runoff as City Votes for Change

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The City of Cambridge likely will have an entirely new elected government as voters chose a new mayor and the challenger leads the remaining incumbent in Ward 2.

Andrew Bradshaw handily defeated longtime Cambridge Mayor Victoria Jackson-Stanley in Tuesday’s runoff election.

Bradshaw won by nearly 15 percentage points, earning 1,643 votes (57.41%) to 1,219 (42.59%) for Jackson-Stanley.

The two were the top vote-getters in the city’s Oct. 17 mayoral election, but neither topped the required 50%+1 and so faced each other in the Dec. 1 runoff.

Jackson-Stanley’s support in the runoff was largely unchanged from the initial round of voting six weeks ago, while Bradshaw appears to have picked up most of the votes of the other two mayoral challengers.

On Oct. 17, the incumbent mayor got 40.62% of the vote (1,197 votes), Bradshaw had 27.79%, La-Shon Banks Foster had 19.27%, and Robert S. Larimer had 12.32%.

Only a handful of votes separate the candidates in the two city commissioner races that also required runoff elections.

It was unclear at presstime Wednesday whether there were any provisional ballots remaining to be counted. During the Oct. 17 election, there were only four provisional ballots counted in Ward 2 and three in Ward 3.

Incumbent Ward 2 Commissioner Donald Sydnor is down by five votes to challenger Lajan Natasha Cephas.

Cephas has 223 votes (50.57%) to 218 (49.43%) for Sydnor.

Lajan Cephas, in an interview before the election, said Cambridge has “can do better” and she wanted to be part of the solution to do so.

The Oct. 17 results had Sydnor with 38.84% to 30.28% for Lajan Cephas (30.28%). Paul F. Baiers Jr. had 16.93% of the vote and Tyzann Meekins had 13.94%.

In Ward 3, Jameson Harrington is leading Gary T. Gordy by six votes.

Harrington had 216 votes (50.7%) to 210 (49.3%) for Gordy.

Harrington, in an interview before the election, said he wanted to help the city grow “and take advantage of all the great potential we have here in Cambridge.”

Gordy had 39.24% of the vote on Oct. 17 to 30.59% for Harrington, who barely edged out Duane Farrow (30.17%) by two votes to go on to the runoff election.

Lajan Cephas and Harrington will join Brian Roche (Ward 1), Sputty Cephas (Ward 4), and Chad Malkus (Ward 5) on the city commission.

During the Oct. 17 election, Roche garnered 61.59% of the vote in Ward 1, defeating two other candidates; Sputty Cephas defeated Ward 4 incumbent Dave Cannon by 13 votes (51.14% to 48.86%); and Malkus was unopposed in Ward 5.

Incumbent Ward 3 Commissioner La-Shon Foster ran for mayor rather than seeking re-election. Ward 1 Commissioner Stephen Rideout and Ward 5 Commssioner Robert Hanson did not seek re-election.

Biden Wins Talbot County in Final Unofficial Count; First Dem Victory Here Since 1964

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Joe Biden has eked out a narrow victory in Talbot County, according to the final unofficial results, becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to win here since 1964, when Lyndon Johnson took the county during his landslide over Republican Barry Goldwater.

Election officials conducted the final canvassing on Friday, when mail-in ballots could be received until 10 a.m.

Biden has 11,062 votes (49%) to 10,946 (48.5%) for President Donald Trump, the Republican incumbent, as of the final unofficial count.

The shift in results over time mirrors similar trends seen nationwide — Trump supporters voted in person (whether on Election Day or during early voting); the majority of Biden voters opted to vote by mail. Nearly 77% of Talbot’s votes for Trump were in person; about 57% of Biden’s votes were by mail.

In Talbot County, early voting was the most popular choice with more than 10,000 voters casting ballots in the days before Election Day. More than 8,500 county residents cast mail-in ballots, an option urged by the Biden campaign due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 2,900 voters went to the polls on Election Day.

Biden outperformed Hillary Clinton by about 7 percentage points. Clinton got 42.1% of Talbot’s vote in 2016; Trump had 52.2%.

In 2012 and 2008, Barack Obama had similar margins of defeat in the county as Clinton. He lost Talbot by more than 12 percentage points against Mitt Romney in 2012; by about 10 percentage points against John McCain in 2008.

Republican George W. Bush won Talbot by nearly 20 percentage points against Democrats John Kerry in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000.

In an Anxiety-Ridden Year, U.S. Voter Turnout Rate Highest Since 1900

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More people voted in this year’s election than ever before, some motivated by fear, some by peer influence, some by the wide options available for voting, some by social media and still others by love or hate for President Donald Trump.

As of Thursday, an estimated 159 million people, accounting for 66.4% of the eligible voting population, cast ballots in this election, according to the University of Florida’s United States Elections Project. That exceeds the turnout percentages for the past 120 years, going back to the 1900 race, when 73.2% of the voting eligible population cast ballots, ultimately re-electing President William McKinley over Democratic challenger William Jennings Bryan.

“High turnout is a sign of a healthy democracy,” Michael McDonald, who runs the Elections Project, wrote in USA Today on Wednesday.

He also pointed to a pre-election Gallup Poll in which 77% of registered voters said the 2020 election mattered more to them than previous elections – the highest level since the polling firm started asking that question in 1996. Still, over one-third of voting eligible people did not cast a ballot in this election.

Experts say fear of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and about the economy, strong feelings about Trump, the current social climate and peer influences, among other factors, spawned this historic turnout. And many states still are tabulating ballots.

Following an established pattern since at least 2000, turnout rates were especially high in key swing states. Over 75% of eligible voters cast ballots in Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Iowa, while over 70% of eligible voters did so in Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina and Florida. Georgia received ballots from just under 70% of eligible voters.

“There’s a couple of things going on there,” said Michael Hanmer, research director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civil Engagement.

“The feeling that something more is at stake could be part of the internal motivator” for individual voters, Hanmer said, in states where, because of the Electoral College system, a vote for Trump wouldn’t have much impact in a state that voted Democratic, and a vote for Biden wouldn’t count for much in a state that voted Republican.

Voters in the battleground states don’t have that concern. Campaigns spend more energy and money in states that could go either way.

“It’s harder in those states to ignore what’s going on. It’s going to be on TV, it’s going to be on radio, it’s more likely to be on their social media, they’re more likely to get a door knock,” Hanmer said.

Non-swing states with especially high turnout rates, estimated by the Elections Project, were Maine, Minnesota, Colorado, Washington and Oregon – all saw three-quarters or more of their eligible voters cast ballots. Maryland ranked fifteenth in voter turnout, with just over 72% of eligible voters, according to the Elections Project estimates.

The availability of mail-in voting and early voting due to the coronavirus pandemic may have contributed to high turnout in some states. In Maryland, about half of the state’s voters mailed in their ballots.

Historically, states that regularly conduct elections by mail, such as Oregon, have greater voter turnout than those states that traditionally do not use the mails for balloting.

In Pennsylvania, where ballots still were being counted, Secretary of State Kathy Bookvar told reporters Thursday that she expected a very high turnout in the battleground state.

“Pennsylvanians have had more choices this year than in the history of the commonwealth,” she said.

Hanmer said that voting law changes to accommodate the pandemic likely generated some turnout, but added that since even many states that did not make these changes, like Texas, saw increased turnout, there were other factors at play as well.

“I really think that the turnout story for this election is more about general interest and mobilization,” Hanmer said.

The pandemic may have been responsible for some of this mobilization: “We’ve had our lives upended and we’re in this environment where our physical social circles have largely shrunk, and we’re really hard pressed to avoid coverage of what’s going on in the news,” Hanmer said.

David Paleologos, director of Suffolk University’s Political Research Center, said usually “what increases voter turnout is the quality of the candidates,” but this year is historic in that high voter turnout seemed to be primarily motivated by fear.

“it’s just ironic to me that Joe Biden … has the ability to get the most votes, ever, ever, and he’s not the person that people are excited about,” Paleologos said.

Memories of Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016 may also have spurred additional turnout for Biden.

“People didn’t get out to vote because they assumed she was going to win,” Paleologos said, adding that there wasn’t “that element of surprise” this time around.

Hanmer also suspects social media and peer influence contributed to the high turnout.

“A lot of people were engaged this year in contacting other people, and I mean just regular people contacting their friends, not necessarily always part of some wider formal campaign activity,” Hanmer said. “That’s just been increasingly common as a tactic.”

Alexandra Palm, a 24-year-old nanny and pizza deliverer in Spokane, Washington, said she did not want to vote this year, but was shamed into casting a ballot for Biden.

“On social media is where I felt shamed a lot,” Palm said. She said that it wasn’t usually personally directed toward her, but “if I ever brought up that I was not voting, there was never a time when someone would just ever respect that decision, ever.”

Instead, she said people told her she couldn’t complain about election results if she didn’t vote, and that if she didn’t vote for Biden it counted as a vote for Trump. Her father and people on social media told her “you have to vote, you have to vote, you have to vote,” she said.

Ralph Watkins, a volunteer with the League of Women Voters, said “just the tone overall seemed to be far stronger than in many recent elections.”

“Democrats were very passionate about wanting to turn (Trump) out of office, and many Republicans were equally passionate about wanting to keep (Trump) in office,” Watkins said.

Watkins said the pandemic and the resulting economic downturn generated turnout along party lines: those who worried more about the economy tended to vote Republican, while those who worried more about the pandemic tended to vote Democrat.

Additionally, “concerns about racism are really critical, and turnout in African American areas was very high and very democratic,” Watkins said.

Marqus Shaw, 35, of Oklahoma City, voted for Biden — his first time voting. He said it was mainly to vote against Donald Trump.

“(Biden)’s better than Trump to me,” Shaw said. “Trump just says things that you shouldn’t say, he shows no compassion, and he’s a racist.”

In the past, Shaw said, he has felt like his vote wouldn’t matter, but this year he said he “just can’t take Trump anymore.”

Paleologos said turnout driven by fear “doesn’t bode well for the system at large” and may indicate a failure of the party system.

“If we’re going to have two parties, the key is for the party system to enable and support candidates who have broad appeal,” he said. “Right now we don’t have that. Right now the party system thrives on negativity.”

By Gracie Todd and Luciana Perez Uribe

Mail-in Ballot Counts Put Biden Up in Kent County, Narrows Trump’s Lead in Talbot

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As the nation has seen with the presidential vote count in several battleground swing states, election results may change after Election Day as mail-in ballots are counted by poll workers.

And the final certified results in most states are yet to come.

In Maryland, the first round of counting mail-in ballots was Thursday, Nov. 5. The unofficial results after that count show Kent County flipped from voting Donald Trump in 2016 to Joe Biden in 2020.

That result could change again as provisional ballots are counted Thursday, Nov. 12, and the last batch of mail-in ballots are counted Nov. 13. Mail-in ballots may be received by 10 a.m. that day postmarked by Nov. 3 or dated Nov. 3 with a voter’s oath.

Election results will be verified and certified Nov. 13 and sent to the state elections board.

The statewide certification of results will be Tuesday, Dec. 8, with presidential electors casting votes for president on Monday, Dec. 14.

After Thursday’s initial count of mail-in ballots, Biden is leading in Kent County by 49.4% to 48.2% for Trump. Trump was leading 53% to 45% after ballots were counted on Election Day.

In 2016, Trump won 48.7% of Kent County’s vote to 45.7% for Hillary Clinton.

Biden won about 70% of the mail-in ballot vote in Kent County this year, mirroring trends seen nationwide.

Trump urged his voters to go to the polls on Election Day and has falsely claimed mail-in ballots are fraudulent. The Biden campaign encouraged mail-in ballots so voters could avoid lines on Election Day during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump’s numbers also slipped in Talbot County during Thursday’s count, but he still maintains a narrow lead over Biden.

The Republican president was leading Biden 50.5% to 47.3% on Election Day, but, as of Thursday, is only up 49.1% to 48.5%.

Trump’s vote margin dropped from 616 to 116 after the count of mail-in ballots.

In 2016, Trump won Talbot County 52.2% to 42.1% for Clinton.

In Dorchester County, Trump is faring better in 2020 than he did in 2016. He beat Clinton 55.3% to 41% four years ago and leads Biden 58.2% to 39.5%.

Biden Elected 46th President of the United States

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After more than three days of uncertainty in a closely-contested race, former Vice President Joe Biden has defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States.

California Sen. Kamala Harris also made history, as she will become the first woman — and first woman of color — to hold the vice-presidency. She is of Jamaican and Indian descent.

“America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country,” Biden tweeted just before noon Saturday. “The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a president for all Americans – whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me.”

After four days of waiting, news organizations declared Biden the winner late Saturday morning after new returns from his native state of Pennsylvania made it clear he would take the battleground and its 20 Electoral College votes, giving him 3 votes more than needed to make him president.

The president-elect, who turns 78 on Nov. 20, began his political career with narrow victories in Delaware and election to the United States Senate in 1972 weeks before he turned 30. He twice previously ran unsuccessfully for the presidency – in 1988 (ended after just three and a half months in 1987) and again in 2008. He will finally make it to the White House with another close win.

He amassed more votes than any other presidential candidate in American history, breaking the record that President Barack Obama set in 2008.

Harris’s ascension to the vice presidency will be “really wonderful for the United States,” said William Spriggs, an economics professor at the Californian’s alma mater, Howard University, an historically black institution in Washington.

“I think this will start a legacy that Americans will finally get used to the idea of women in leadership, and accept her role as setting the mark and paving a path for other women to ascend to top leadership,” Spriggs told Capital News Service.

Harris, 56, is a challenger-turned-ally of Biden. A rising progressive star, she attacked him during the primary for his opposition to busing to desegregate schools. She also set herself apart from the political veteran by embracing the Green New Deal and Medicare-for-All, as well as calling for a ban on fracking.

Harris is expected to bring a more progressive perspective to the moderate president-elect’s agenda.

With the coronavirus pandemic raging across the nation, it appears unlikely that Biden and Harris would celebrate the start of their administration in the traditional manner that would call for an oath-taking ceremony Jan. 20 on the West Front of the United States Capitol, witnessed by massive crowds stretching for blocks on the National Mall.

The inauguration plans are to come, but Biden and Harris already have activated a website for the transition and are assembling a transition team. As a symbol of the coming change in power, the United States Secret Service earlier in the week dispatched additional agents to the Biden home in Wilmington, Delaware, and the Federal Aviation Administration designed the skies above that home as restricted airspace.

Despite the pandemic — or many experts believe because of the various voting methods it made necessary — the total turnout for this election is expected to break a 120-year-old record.

Michael Hanmer, research director for the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civil Engagement, said “motivational factors (to vote) were just more present” in this election, though voting law changes to accommodate the pandemic also played a part.

The small margin of victory, combined with the overwhelming use of mail-in ballots, appeared to infuriate the president, as he continued to falsely claim that he was cheated out of reelection. Some of his Republican allies made similar unfounded attacks, while others in the GOP – mainly those out of office – denounced Trump’s accusations as dangerous and irresponsible.

Trump had repeatedly questioned the legality of mail-in ballots and discouraged his supporters from voting by mail. As a result, mail-in ballots in many states with little history of using that voting method leaned very heavily to Biden.

Many states counted mail-in ballots after tabulating Election Day ballots cast in-person, initially generating the appearance of a Republican surge in some of the battleground states. But the counting of the mail-in ballots – a slow process – began producing a Democratic counter-wave that materialized as early as Wednesday.

Multiple networks — including ABC, NBC, MSNBC, and CBS — cut away almost at the start of a Trump speech in the White House Thursday night when the president leveled baseless and false claims about the vote counts.

“If you count the legal votes, I easily win. If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us,” Trump claimed.

No credible evidence of fraud has been produced, according to the Associated Press.

The president’s claims of cheating were “especially disconcerting because the dangers of Trump’s rhetoric will outlive his time in the office,” Peter Ubertaccio, dean of arts and sciences at Stonehill College in Massachusetts, told CNS.

Millions of people believe Trump’s accusations of voter fraud despite no neutral observers stepping in to raise concerns about legitimacy, he said. This will, in turn, lead many citizens to believe that this election was stolen from Trump, Ubertaccio added.

“On the list of dangerous things Donald Trump has done, this ranks pretty highly — he has basically called American elections illegitimate because they didn’t go his way,” Ubertaccio said.

While counting of votes continued, the Trump campaign filed lawsuits to stop the counts in Michigan, Georgia — where federal judges rejected them — and Pennsylvania.

Caleb Jackson, a voting rights attorney at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, called the lawsuits “absolutely frivolous and meritless” that “will not get them anywhere and not have an impact on the election.”

In states where mail-in ballots seemed to be benefitting Trump a bit more, such as Arizona, the president and his allies urged election officials to count every vote.

“Of course it’s contradictory,” Jackson said. “There’s nothing legally that bars them from making those arguments, but, you know, professionally and ethically…it goes against what you swear to do as an attorney.”

In states such as Pennsylvania and Georgia, automatic recounts will be generated if the margins are 0.5% or less. But recounts also can be requested by Trump’s team and were expected.

Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, has announced Friday that there will be a recount in his state.

But Biden’s victory, especially given the closeness of this race, does not indicate that it would necessarily open the way for significant policy changes, Ubertaccio said.

“We are a 50/50 country, and partisans on both sides have an active dislike of the folks on the other side,” said Ubertaccio. “Even landslide victories don’t by themselves indicate long-term changes to American politics.”

If Republicans retain control of the Senate, which is not yet clear, Biden would have a hard time getting legislation to pass without the acquiescence of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.

While it was Biden who often negotiated with McConnell during the Obama years over budget deals and other legislation – both drawing on their long relationship with each other – the new president would be dealing with very different political dynamics after a hard-fought, divisive election.

With Senate races waiting to be called, the current makeup is even with 48 members projected to be on each side of the aisle, and two runoff elections in Georgia in January present the Democrats with an opportunity to take control of the chamber.

Even so, it was the stark contrast between Biden’s progressive agenda and Trump administration policies that “helped drive turnout,” Hanmer said.

“Most people had a pretty good understanding of what they would get with Donald Trump if he were to win, and what they would get from Joe Biden if he were to win,” he added.

By Kaanita Iyer, Jacob Rousseau, Gracie Todd, Luciana Perez-Uribe, Aneurin Canham-Clyne, and Michelle Siegel