Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has set a series of new records throughout the campaign, from being the oldest American to clinch a major party’s presidential nod to nominating the first woman of color to be his running mate.
With the votes that have been counted so far in the presidential race, Biden shattered the previous record for the most popular votes a presidential nominee has received.
As of 2:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Biden has received 69,784,059 votes from all around the country.
ABC News’ Jon Karl noted that the previous record was held by former President Barack Obama (D), who broke the popular vote record in 2008 when he garnered the support of 69,498,516 Americans.
“Look where Joe Biden is, Obama’s running mate now has the record for the most votes in a presidential election — and we’re still counting votes,” Karl said on Wednesday.
.@jonkarl: Joe Biden "now has the record for the most votes in a presidential election—and we're still counting votes." https://t.co/Qw0lbY1QeE pic.twitter.com/n79RM7UMgK
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 4, 2020
While Biden is leading in the popular, several keys remained too close to call for an Electoral College victory as of early Wednesday afternoon.
The former vice president currently has 227 electoral votes, meaning he is 43 votes shy of clinching victory. However, if he holds onto his leads in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada, he will secure the presidency and become the 11th challenger in U.S. history to unseat an incumbent president.