Joe Biden gestures after speaking during election night at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, and President Donald Trump speaks during election night in the East Room of the White House in Washington early Wednesday.
AFP/Getty Images
Former Vice President Joe Biden won Michigan and Wisconsin on Wednesday as his White House race with Donald Trump stretched into overtime, and the president’s team promised legal challenges.
A day after all polls closed, the presidency and control of the Senate were still hanging in the balance — though Biden had amassed a lead over Trump in Electoral College delegates, 264-214. It takes 270 to win.
In the Senate, Democrats’ path to retaking the majority narrowed when Republican Sen. Susan Collins hung on to her seat after a challenge from state lawmaker Sara Gideon, who’d led Collins in the polls for months.
Read more in MarketWatch and Barron’s live blog.
U.S. stocks rocketed higher on Wednesday as Wall Street watched the results, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.33% having a historically strong post–Election Day outing.
Trump, meanwhile, was preparing challenges. His campaign filed a lawsuit in Michigan state court demanding access to locations where ballots are being counted. The campaign wants to review ballots that have already been opened and processed, the Associated Press reported.
Now see: Biden, Trump campaigns could face many court battles before winner is officially declared
The campaign also said it would ask for a recount in Wisconsin. Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien cited “irregularities in several Wisconsin counties.” And in Pennsylvania, the campaign is suing to stop the vote count over what it called a lack of transparency.
Read: Here’s what we know about the states whose Electoral College votes haven’t been called
Republicans’ likely retention of the Senate majority means “gridlock with the liberal House,” wrote Greg Valliere of AGF Investments in a note. “As a result, market-unfriendly tax hikes could stall in 2021,” said Valliere, the firm’s chief U.S. policy strategist.
Now see: Democratic hopes for taking U.S. Senate dwindle as counting continues
Victor Reklaitis contributed to this article.
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