Thread by @nycjim

Here’s where we stand at 6:35 am ET:
*New Arizona numbers shrink Biden’s margin to 2.4%. All eyes on Maricopa County.
*Trump’s Georgia margin collapses to 18,500 votes. Focus on Atlanta.
*Trump’s PA margin shrinks. Tons of votes to be tabulated in Philly.
nytimes.com/interactive/20…

|@business has called Arizona for Joe Biden, putting the Electoral College count at 264-214.

More: Only hours after Trump supporters in Pennsylvania chanted “Stop the Count” … Trump supporters in Arizona chanted, “Count the Votes.” nytimes.com/interactive/20…

Huge lesson I took away from covering 2000 election: the huge psychological advantage of holding a lead.
*George W. Bush’s team was keenly aware of it through the Florida recount. And aware of the risk of Al Gore moving ahead, even by a handful of votes. 1/2

2/2
*This is particularly true when it comes to court challenges. Even partisan judges are aware of who’s ahead.
*That’s why waking up to numbers like this is hugely important, even if it’s not conclusive:

*Latest Arizona numbers break strongly for Donald Trump, 57-40.
*About 470,000 votes remain to be tabulated.
*Trump will need to win 57.6 percent of those votes to erase Joe Biden’s margin there.
*Republicans believe that will happen.
*We’ll see.
azcentral.com/story/news/pol…

Ultimately, though, Biden’s path to victory in Pennsylvania is SO strong now that he could still lose Georgia and Arizona and still sail into the White House. nytimes.com/interactive/20…

Meanwhile, faced with the likelihood of losing, Donald Trump has been talking about running again in 2024, according to @nytimes: nytimes.com/2020/11/04/us/…

Markets continue to show enthusiasm for Biden presidency. cnbc.com/2020/11/04/ele…

In other Georgia news, voters there elected a QAnon believer to Congress. Twitter seems to have some concerns with her posts.

Other numbers worth tracking:
*US records 1-day record for new #coronavirus infections: 107,000.
*Across the US, 50,000 people are hospitalized with #covid19.
nytimes.com/live/2020/11/0…

The front pages.

Meanwhile, the counting continues in Philadelphia. You can watch it with this ballotcam livestream:

Philadelphia County numbers are still sitting at 70 percent complete. When those numbers finally get entered, the complexion of Pennsylvania will shift dramatically in Joe Biden’s favor. nytimes.com/interactive/20…

Important context via @PhillyInquirer:
"As of 9:50 p.m. Wednesday night, Pennsylvania had 99% of precincts reporting but only 71% of mail ballots counted, with about 763,000 remaining to be counted. Of the mail ballots counted so far in Pennsylvania, 77% were cast for Biden."

*New Philadelphia mail-in ballot numbers are finally starting to roll in.
*Biden has cut Trump’s Pennsylvania lead to 142,466. LATEST: nytimes.com/interactive/20…

Guessing that Pennsylvania explains Donald Trump’s latest tweet.

Important update from Georgia: nytimes.com/interactive/20…

Useful context on the new Philadelphia-area numbers and why they are breaking so strongly for Joe Biden, via @FiveThirtyEight fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/2020…

PA Gov. Tom Wolf rejects Donald Trump’s call to stop the vote count: “Pennsylvania is going to count every vote and no amount of intimidation will stop our dedicated election officials in our municipalities.”
inquirer.com/politics/elect…

*Montgomery County, PA, has wrapped up its count. Biden has a 26-percentage-point lead over Trump, his best in the Philadelphia suburbs.
*By contrast, Hillary Clinton had a 21-percent advantage there in 2016. inquirer.com/politics/elect…

*Joe Biden is also significantly outperforming Hillary Clinton’s numbers in nearby Chester County.
*Clinton had a 9.3-percentage-point advantage in 2016.
*Biden is showing a 16.5-percent-point advantage.

Same story in the Pittsburgh area, where Biden is showing a 19-percentage-point advantage, versus the 16.4-percentage-point advantage that Clinton held in 2016. (And there are significant number of ballots outstanding.)

Big update from Pennsylvania: 35,000 ballots remain in Allegheny County, but most won’t be counted until Friday. inquirer.com/politics/elect…

GEORGIA UPDATE:
New Fulton County votes cut Trump’s margin to 14,857. nytimes.com/interactive/20…

PENNSYLVANIA UPDATE:
*New votes from Erie and Delaware Counties cut Trump’s lead to 116,224.
*Margin now 1.8 percent.
nytimes.com/interactive/20…

*@PhillyInquirer reports that Pennsylvania still has 360,000 mail ballots left to count.
*At this point, Trump holds 115,000-vote lead over Biden.
*Majority of outstanding votes are expected to break for Biden.
inquirer.com/politics/elect…