Legal challenges to vote totals move forward
While the country waited through days of not knowing who would be the President of the United States, the choice of Pendleton County voters was clear.
Republican Donald J. Trump received 5,514 votes to Democrat Joe Biden’s 1,321. Libertarian Jo Jorgensen received 56 votes while music star Kanye West had 18 votes and Independent Brock Pierce had 14 votes.
Like seemingly the rest of the country, Biden led with mail-in ballots in Pendleton County with 620-555 for Trump but the President dominated with walk-in voting, 2,819 to 482.
In a tumultuous week, vote totals and state leanings changed as more mail-in vote totals were unveiled. As a result, states as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylanvania, Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia changed from one candidate to another.
With Arizona, Alaska, Georgia and North Carolina yet to be called according to NBC News, Biden has still earned 279 electoral votes and has won the presidency.
Kentucky was decidedly a Trump state with him winning 62.2 percent (1,343,148 votes) to Biden’s 36 percent (778,214 votes).
With many states are still counting ballots received by the mail, Biden also leads the popular vote, 75,588,200 to Trump’s 71,204,000. Both totals surpassed Barack Obama’s vote total in 2008 as the most votes ever received in a Presidential election.
The President-elect spoke to the country on the evening of Saturday, November 7 and called for unity in the country.
There are numerous lawsuits being filed over the tallies, acceptance of mail-in ballots, postmarks, and calls of election fraud.
While unsubstantiated reports indicate that members of Trump’s inner circle are calling for him to concede, it appears that the legal challenges will continue and may end up in front of the Supreme Court.
In other races, Pendleton County voters sided with the Republican candidates down the ballot with 2,104 voters choosing the straight Republican party option. In contrast, only 436 chose the straight Democrat party option although that is probably the result of no Democrat challenger to Pendleton County native Mark Hart for the 78th District Kentucky House of Representative seat.
Despite spending a reported $83 million for the U. S. Senate seat, Democrat Amy McGrath was trounced by Republican incumbent Mitch McConnell. The Senate Majority Leader was seeking a seventh term.
In Pendleton County, McConnell received 4,992 votes to McGrath’s 1,569. Statewide, McConnell received 58.2 percent of the vote to McGrath’s 37.8 percent. Libertarian Brad Barron received four percent of the vote.
After most polling indicated that the Democrat Party would have the chance to the flip control of the Senate, the race for control appearto come down to the two runoff races in Georgia that will happen in early January.
If Republicans hold the final tally of votes as it appears, they will pick up the Senate seats in Alaska and North Carolina. That would give them 50 seats.
If Democrats can win the two Georgia seats, then Vice President Kamala Harris would cast a vote to break any ties thus giving Democrats control of the Senate.
If Republicans can keep their lead in both Alaska and North Carolina and win at least one of the Georgia seats, it would mean that Mitch McConnell would return to the Senate Majority Leader position.
“Tonight, Kentuckians said we’re keeping a front row seat in the Senate,” McConnell said on Election Day night.
Lewis County native Thomas Massie will return to the U. S. House of Representatives after garnering 67.4 percent of the 4th District’s vote compared to Democrat Alexandra Owensby’s 32.6 percent.
Pendleton County voters overwhelmingly chose Massie with 5,534 votes to Owensby 1,320.
Massie returns to the House that will continue to be in Democrat control but with more Republicans with him as his party will seemingly pick up five seats. It is reported that the Democrat majority will be the slimmest House majority in 20 years.