Many Democratic operatives last night were dreading the coming hours because it appeared Trump was on his way to victory.
But as the sun rose on Wednesday morning, many of those same operatives are growing more confident, primarily because of how much mail-in and absentee vote is yet to be counted.
“Joe Biden’s path is largely unchanged,” said Guy Cecil, the head of Priorities USA, the top super PAC backing Biden. “It may take a couple of days to count votes & we may need to fight the Trump campaign in court, but Joe Biden is going to win this election.”
Here is part of the reason:
⦁ Wisconsin: Biden built a slim lead in the state overnight, anchored by a surge of absentee voting and all votes being counted in Milwaukee County, a reliably Democratic stronghold. With the major counties in and 97% of the vote counted, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler and state Democrats projected confidence overnight that the lead would hold.
⦁ Michigan: After trailing all night in Michigan, Biden pulled ahead of Trump on Wednesday morning, with votes still left to be counted in Wayne County, a Democratic stronghold, and places like Macomb County in suburban Detroit and Grand Rapids in Kent County. Omar Jimenez reported on Wednesday morning that election officials in Michigan believe they will have a “clear picture” of the state’s outcome by the end of the day.
⦁ Arizona: Much of the vote that remains out is from Maricopa County, a longtime Republican stronghold that has grown more racially and politically diverse over the last decade. Biden maintains a lead over Trump in the state, with 248,000 early votes yet to be officially counted in Maricopa.
⦁ Georgia: While Trump maintains a lead in the state, the bulk of the vote that remains uncounted comes from the greater Atlanta metropolitan area, primarily Fulton, DeKalb and Cobb County, three population centers where Biden is currently running up the score over Trump.
“We feel good,” a senior Biden campaign adviser told CNN’s MJ Lee on Wednesday morning. “We’re going to win today.”
That hope was echoed by others.
“Democrats have just come through a long night of the soul. When a lot of Democrats went to bed last night, they were very, very depressed,” said David Gergen, an adviser to four president and CNN contributor. “But today, this morning, in this dramatic turn about, Democrats are now seeing much brighter rays out there.”