As many of us expected, the results from Tuesday’s Election are not quite final yet—with the last of the mail-in ballots still waiting to be counted—but as of this writing, Vice President Biden has pulled ahead in crucial states.
While Trump and his team may try to undermine the process and invalidate results, it is basic in a democracy that every one of these votes must be counted, and so we must remain patient, vigilant, and hopeful as we await the final tallies.
Democrats will retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives, while the U.S. Senate remains tight, thanks to critical wins from DFER John Hickenlooper (CO) and Mark Kelly (AZ), both of whom DFER partner organization Education Reform Now Advocacy (ERNA) supported through GOTV efforts in their respective states. The ultimate control of the Senate looks to be decided in January, as two Georgia Senate races—Democrat Jon Ossoff and incumbent Republican David Perdue, and Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Kelly Loeffler, respectively—are likely heading to a runoff.
This election saw the highest voter turnout in more than a century. We’re proud to have helped empower hundreds of thousands of voters across this country to exercise their right to vote—including through ERNA’s GOTV efforts in Colorado, where Biden secured a victory, in Arizona, where he is still likely to win, and in Georgia, where the race has tipped in his favor, but still has not been called.
There’s also much to celebrate in our state chapters. Election night returns show significant wins across our chapters, as veteran and first-time DFERs won their races—elevating education reform advocates in all levels of government.
DFER Colorado had a big night, helping to:
- Elect former Gov. John Hickenlooper to the U.S. Senate, flipping the state’s U.S. Senate seat in a crucial win for Democrats nationally.
- Pass five ballot initiatives in the state, including the DPS Bond and Mill and Durango Bonds that will increase funding for Denver and Durango public schools, respectively, Proposition EE that will fund universal Pre-K, and Amendment B repealing Gallagher, which stabilizes property tax funding for schools.
- Grow the Democratic majority in the State Senate by one seat, winning eight races with two races still too close to call.
- Maintain the majority in the State House, winning 14 races last night with 1 DFER champion’s race still too close to call.
In Connecticut, Democrats gained ground in both chambers of the legislature, with several more races undecided. The team participated in a targeted GOTV effort in multiple regions, with many of those races still too early to call.
In DC, Jacque Patterson, a founding DFER DC Board Member and chief community engagement and growth officer for KIPP DC Public Schools is the Representative-Elect of the DC State Board of Education (At-Large). Another DFER DC-backed candidate, Allister Chang, won a ward-based seat on the State Board of Education.
In their efforts to maintain a supermajority on the Orleans Parish School Board, DFER Louisiana helped outright re-elect education reform champion John Brown (D1) and elect first-time candidate Olin Parker (D3). DFER-backed candidates will be heading into runoffs in four districts.
In Massachusetts, Democrats retained their super-majority in both branches of the state legislature. DFER MA support of House incumbents facing challenges, all of whom were returned to office, and support for Democratic challengers to anti-testing Republicans, continued to maintain a consistent strong baseline of electoral support for reform.
Votes in the majority of New York races are still being counted, however both DFER NY supported Rebecca Seawright and Jeremy Cooney appear to have picked up wins in the state Assembly and Senate, respectively.
Our Washington team continues to follow several unfolding races in state, including Marilyn Strickland’s historic run for the U.S. House of Representatives to become the state’s first African American woman to represent Washington. Early in the evening Gov. Jay Inslee also secured a historic third term as Governor.
Outside of our state chapters, DFER is also proud to have supported education champion Luisa Santos, who won a seat on the Miami-Dade School Board.
We also congratulate Leaders of Color alumna Marquita Bradshaw on a hard-fought race in Tennessee. Bradshaw made history as the first Black woman to win a major party nomination for U.S. Senate in Tennessee, and while she may not have secured the Senate seat last night, we know Marquita Bradshaw will continue to be a trailblazer in her fight for equity.
While the blue wave we hoped for wasn’t present on Election Day itself, it has been slowly trickling across the map and over races ever since, through the return of hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots.
Regardless of the final outcome, Joe Biden has officially received more votes than any other Presidential candidate in history, and the prospect of a Biden-Harris Administration, coupled with the wins in our states, gives us hope and will make a real difference in the lives of students.