After a neck and neck race and a long week of counting votes, Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris have taken the victory. Biden will be the 46th President of the United States. Vice President-Elect Harris is the first female Vice President.

Joe Biden wins 2020 US Election

The polls had put Biden in the lead, with many speaking of a “blue wave” as democrats were set to win millions of votes and a number of states. However, in the early hours of counting votes, Trump took a number of key states including Texas, Florida, and Ohio - a state that has voted for the winning candidate in every election since 1960. 

But that was only the beginning. As time went, the tables appeared to turn, as Trump ran out of ways to hold on to his position in the White House. Biden managed to turn blue states red - winning Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia, and his home state of Pennsylvania - which was the piece of the puzzle that secured Biden’s victory.

Counting the votes took significantly longer this year, with an astoundingly high voter turnout - the highest in more than a century - with a large proportion of voters opting for voting by mail. Many votes are still to be counted and verified, so it could take a while before there is an official result.

This wasn’t just an election to determine the next President - and while the Republicans may have lost the Presidency, they took home great wins in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Democrats are holding onto their majority in the House, but lost four seats to the Republican Party. Meanwhile, the Democrats taking the majority in the Senate depends on run-off elections in Georgia, where two seats are up for election. As it stands, the parties are neck and neck with 48 seats each.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte tweeted to congratulate the winners:

What happens now?

This was a historical election for a number of reasons. The high voter turnout and large number of mail-in ballots means counting votes is taking a little longer. However, Trump is adamant his loss is due to the counting of illegal ballots and electoral fraud - in spite of the fact that there is no credible evidence of this. 

Trump has announced legal action against a number of states, and will likely request a recount in a number of states - including Georgia and Pennsylvania. For now, President Trump is refusing to concede. He is determined to fight the result, and so, therefore, while Biden may have been named the President-Elect, it seems likely that this election will continue to drag out for a number of weeks. 

Other big wins in the election

Other significant wins in the 2020 election include Democrat Sarah Mcbride, who made history winning her state senate seat in Delaware and becoming the first (openly) transgender senator.

Another notable win was Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who made headlines after expressing racist views and support for the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon, taking the senate seat for northwest Georgia. 

Lastly, a retired astronaut and former US Navy Captain, Mark Kelly, won the seat in Arizona. Kelly decided to run after his wife, Gabby Giffods, was forced to retire from congress eight years ago after being shot in the head. 

Several Dutch Americans also claimed victories, winning seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate - including Randy Feenstra (Republican, Iowa), John Hickenlooper (Democrat, Colorado), and in Michigan, Bill Huizenga, John Moolenaar, and Peter Meijer (all Republicans) won their seats in the House of Representatives.

Another prominent figure in the 2020 race was Kanye West, running as an independent in 12 states. The rapper won over 60.000 votes - one of which came from Kanye himself, while his wife Kim Kardashian didn’t share which candidate got her vote. 

Will unhappy Americans flee to the Netherlands?

After the 2016 US presidential election, a number of Americans dissatisfied with the results started to consider a life outside of the United States. There are currently nine million US expats living in countries around the world - and that number could grow following the 2020 election. 

For those Americans who were hoping for a Trump win and are looking to move somewhere that more closely reflects their political leanings, the Netherlands may not be the ideal choice - a recent survey found that 61 percent of people in the Netherlands would vote Biden, and only 11 percent would vote for Trump.