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- President Donald Trump’s campaign is calling for a recount in Wisconsin, a state with 10 electoral votes.
- As of Wednesday afternoon, Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, led Trump 49.4% to 48.8% in Wisconsin, with 98% of the votes in.
- The Trump campaign is questioning the accuracy of the results, while the Biden campaign feels good about them.
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President Donald Trump’s campaign on Wednesday said it would demand a recount in Wisconsin, the Midwestern swing state where Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, held a narrow lead.
Bill Stepien, the Trump campaign manager, questioned the accuracy of the results.
“Despite ridiculous public polling used as a voter suppression tactic, Wisconsin has been a razor thin race as we always knew that it would be,” he said in a statement. “There have been reports of irregularities in several Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the results. The President is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so.”
With 98% of the statewide vote in, Biden had 1,630,389 votes, or 49.4%, and Trump had 1,609,879 votes, or 48.8%, a difference of only 20,510 votes.
CNN called the state for Biden.
Wisconsin, with its 10 electoral votes, would be critical to Biden or Trump in their paths to securing 270 electoral votes and the presidency.
In 2012, President Barack Obama won the Badger State by 7 points, but Trump won by less than 1 point in 2016. The state held a recount in 2016, but it did not change the results.
Wisconsin does not mandate automatic recounts, but if a candidate is behind by less than 1 point they can request one.
Jen O'Malley Dillon, the Biden campaign manager, on Wednesday expressed confidence in the former vice president's standing in the state.
"We are going to win Wisconsin, recount or no recount," she said on a Zoom call with reporters.