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Campaign 2020

Politicsby Fern Shen4:34 pmNov 7, 20200

Joy in Baltimore as Joe Biden wins the presidency

Celebration in the city where the Biden-Harris ticket won 87% of the vote is low-keyed and personal

Above: In Baltimore’s Charles Village, Carol Pitts holds a photo of her late brother David Swain, who voted for Joe Biden the day before he died. (J.M. Giordano)

After five tense days of vote-counting, Joe Biden secured enough electoral votes to win the presidency, making Donald Trump a one-term president.

After Pennsylvania delivered the key electoral votes to put Biden over the top, CNN called the election at 11:24 a.m. and others followed. (Fox News hung back, waiting until 11:40 a.m., the New York Times reported.)

Kamala Harris became the “first” in three categories – first woman, first Black and first South Asian – to become vice president-elect.

The Biden-Harris ticket won 87.2% of Baltimore’s vote in the general election (181,154) compared to just 11% (22,578 votes) for Trump-Pence.

While joyous victory celebrations erupted in Washington, Philadelphia, Atlanta, New York, Chicago and other cities, the reaction here was relatively low-key.

Spontaneous neighborhood expressions of approval and relief popped up at midday in North Baltimore, with some people cheering, others honking car horns and a few banging on pots and pans.

In Charles Village, they hooted and rang bells. “Donald Trump is out!” a man in his backyard announced to no one in particular.

As Biden clinches victory, fans Kate Drabinski and Nicole Stanovsky celebrate their four-year wedding anniversary in Baltimore. They were married the day before election day in 2016. J.M. Giordano)

As Biden clinches victory, fans Kate Drabinski and Nicole Stanovsky celebrate their four-year wedding anniversary. They were married the day before election day in 2016. (J.M. Giordano)

A family stood on a Hampden street corner to celebrate the Biden-Harris victory. (Fern Shen)

A family stands on a Hampden street corner to celebrate the Biden-Harris victory. (Fern Shen)

In Baltimore, passing motorists honked in support, as revelers celebrated the Biden-Harris victory. (Fern Shen)

Passing motorists honk in support as revelers celebrate the Biden-Harris victory at 36th Street and Chestnut Avenue. (Fern Shen)

There was a festive atmosphere on Hampden’s 36th Street, where some carried the American flag, others waved the Pride flag and many held aloft blue Biden/Harris campaign signs.

Two women on Elm Street poured champagne and toasted the Democrat’s victory.

Most of the motorists driving by the Hampden revelers honked in support, though there was one who yelled “F___ Biden” as he passed by.

Amid the celebration some took a moment to consider the implications of the fact the vote was as close as it was, and that the vaunted “Blue Wave” never materialized.

Biden’s popular vote was solid, but with only a few percentage points separating the two candidates, it was no landslide. After all, more than 70 million Americans voted for Donald Trump.

At the Mayor Catherine Pugh hands a letter to Donald Trump noting Baltimore's

Four years ago, then mayor Catherine Pugh hands a letter to President-elect Trump listing Baltimore’s infrastructure needs, including federal aid for building interstate off-ramps to Kevin Plank’s Port Covington project. Nothing was ever funded. (@Mayor_Pugh)

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