As Joseph R. Biden Jr. was elected the 46th president of the United States, MFS students and staff alike shared their emotions and, for some, relief at the conclusion of the 2020 Presidential Election.
Nearly five days after election day, Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes pushed President-elect Biden to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. His victory has broken multiple records, including oldest President-Elect at the age of 77. This election also had a record amount of voter turnout with Joe Biden receiving 75 million votes and Donald Trump receiving 71 million votes at the time of writing.
Shay O’Connor ’23 said, “I am delighted that President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect [Kamala] Harris have won the election. I hope that both the MFS community and the people of the United States can come together to talk about our differences and move forward in a respectful and productive manner.”
Cadence Roy ’21 spoke of her excitement: “I’m really overjoyed. It’s like a sigh of relief for this country and now we can begin to heal.”
Upper School history teacher Jackie Scully also reacted to Biden’s election. “As bipartisan as I can be right now, my reaction is that we have a restoration of democracy! I love that we waited to see ballots counted and PA prevailed. At the end of the day, whether you wanted Biden or Trump for president, what we did see is that true democracy came through!” said Scully.
Michael Kraft ’21 said that the election was “rigged” and “stolen.” There is currently no clear evidence that the election was rigged or stolen, but President Trump’s team has filed a variety of lawsuits challenging the results of the election.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris makes history as the first female vice president; and, coming from both a South Asian-American and African-American background, she is the first vice president of color. A hundred years after women gained the right to vote, Vice President-elect Harris makes history as the highest ranking woman in government.
Nae Maddrey ’22, shared her joy for Kamala Harris being elected as vice president. “Extremely ecstatic. First female African-American vice president!” said Maddrey.
Roy also commented on the historical nature of Kamala Harris’ election. “I was really excited. She’s making history right now and inspiring boys and girls of color globally,” said Roy.
This election also showed more people mailing in their ballots due to concerns over COVID-19, and because of this it took a longer time to count all of the ballots. It ended up taking five days for the next president to be announced, with Pennsylvania and Nevada being announced on Saturday, November 7. Because of this prolonged and highly contentious election, many are grateful it is finally over.
Clark Thomson, the head of the history department at MFS, shared similar sentiments. “Thank God, it’s over! How about some governance now?” he said.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2021.
