Four Major Fiscal and Budget Policy Questions Facing the 2021 Federal Government

Four Major Fiscal and Budget Policy Questions Facing the 2021 Federal Government

Introduction: While the Trump campaign continues to challenge the results of the presidential election and assorted House races are awaiting final results, the overall composition of the United States Government starting next January is clear: A Democratic president, a Democratic House, and depending on the results of Georgia's two runoffs, either a perfectly tied or slight Republican Senate. Regardless of that final result, current ongoing fiscal and budget policy issues will continue into the new government, and may become even more prevalent considering the continuation of the pandemic and related policies. The possibility of a split Congress, or one where Kamala Harris will be tie-breaking votes, plus the prevalence of several moderate Senate Democrats, significantly clouds Democratic policy ideas going into 2021, even the most moderate of ones. Nonetheless, the issues listed below will be prevalent and relevant regardless of the final outcomes. 

Main Fiscal and Budget Policy Issues:

• The Question and Terms of another Stimulus Bill: Throughout the Summer and Fall of 2020, there has been significant talk of another COVID-related stimulus bill, and despite proposals from both Senate Republicans and House Democrats, none have passed as of now (Picchi). Before the election, President Trump pledged to enact a second stimulus bill after the election, although he also expressed optimism that the Republicans would have a trifecta in Washington starting next year (Liles), which will not be the case. However, with the election signaling a shift in Washington, and despite Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) prioritizing another stimulus bill, it is being speculated that a bill might not come by the end of the year (Konish). On the other hand, the Majority Leader released a statement signifying his goal to have a second stimulus bill passed by the end of the year. Unlike the other three issues discussed below, this policy issue may become resolved prior to the seating of the new government. Regardless, the exact size of the new stimulus bill, especially unemployment insurance, is still a major disagreement, especially with the recent positive news of Pfizer's vaccine trials potentially suggesting an effective vaccine could come out soon (Picchi). 
• The Federal Deficit and Debt: Since the beginning of the global pandemic, significant socio-economic and health policies (including the CARES Act) had to be enacted to help states, cities, and individuals economically deal with the effects of necessary pandemic-related control measures (Regan et al., 4). Even in a universe without the pandemic, the Federal debt and deficit were both at a precarious position due to spending increases and tax cuts (Zarroli). Furthermore, the lack of control of rising costs of social programs (especially Social Security and Medicare) had already increased concern about the deficit ("Pre-COVID") The retirement of the massive "Baby Boomer" generation was, and continues to be projected to be a major wrench in the current and future fiscal situation, especially considering this year's trend of older workers moving out of the labor force in larger numbers than past years (Fry). Finally, the decrease in inflows, especially tax revenue, further strains the fiscal system (Regan et al., 2-3). All combined, the question for the upcoming president and Congress will be how to balance the expanding debt and deficit with the need and/or desire to implement new policies and ideas (discussed below). 
• Aside from COVID stimulus, how much will the government expand? One of the earliest things I ever learned about post-Depression American politics is that generally, under Democratic presidents, there is usually an expansion of the Federal Government, and vice-versa (or minimal expansion) during Republican administrations, depending on Congress's composition. Despite not committing to more progressive ideas, President-elect Biden campaigned on significant expansion of the Federal government, ranging from enacting a public health insurance option to investing significantly in clean energy, to forgiving student debt, among others (Haltiwanger). Without diving into specific projected numbers, how much Biden and Congress choose to expand the Federal government will likely further increase government outflows, thus creating pressure on the national deficit, as discussed above. 
• Will, and what tax rates will move up or down, be introduced, or stay constant? During the 2016 Democratic candidates, all of the major candidates committed themselves to increasing taxes on the wealthy and big corporations (Wheelwright). After becoming the Democratic nominee, Biden pledged to raise the top marginal tax rate, reverse Trump's tax cuts on corporate taxes, and close tax loopholes exploited by wealthy Americans to hide profits overseas (Rushe; Wilike). In addition, Biden has also committed to expand the Child Tax Credit and provide relief for middle-class families (Haltiwanger). Which tax plans eventually get implemented by President Biden and the incoming Congress could have significant impacts to America's fiscal and budgetary situation (detailed above), especially considering ongoing debate as to how effective his tax plans would be (Foley). 

Works Cited:

Foley, John. "Breakingviews - Joe Biden’s tax plan has a flaw: too many losers." Reuters, 19 Oct. 2020, www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-tax-breakingviews/breakingviews-joe-bidens-tax-plan-has-a-flaw-too-many-losers-idUSKBN27421B. Accessed 12 Nov. 2020. 

Fry, Richard. "The pace of Boomer retirements has accelerated in the past year." Pew Research Center, 9 Nov. 2020, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/11/09/the-pace-of-boomer-retirements-has-accelerated-in-the-past-year/. Accessed 12 Nov. 2020. 

Haltiwanger, John. "Where Biden stands on the most important issues in 2020." Business Insider, 3 Nov. 2020, www.businessinsider.com/joe-biden-policy-positions-most-important-election-issues-2020-9. Accessed 12 Nov. 2020. 

Konish, Lorie. "It could take until January before more coronavirus stimulus relief is finalized." MSNBC, 9 Nov. 2020, www.cnbc.com/2020/11/09/why-more-coronavirus-stimulus-aid-may-not-come-until-january.html. Accessed 11 Nov. 2020. 

Liles, Jordan. "Did Trump Promise ‘Tremendous Stimulus Package Immediately After the Election’?" Snopes Fact Check, 10 Nov. 2020, www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-stimulus-package-election/. Accessed 11 Nov. 2020. 

Picchi, Aimee. "What's the status of a second $1,200 stimulus check?" CBS News, 11 Nov. 2020, www.cbsnews.com/news/second-stimulus-check-status-update-2020-11-11/. Accessed 12 Nov. 2020. 

"Pre-COVID, Social Security and Medicare Faced Insolvency." Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, 22 Apr. 2020, http://www.crfb.org/blogs/pre-covid-social-security-and-medicare-faced-insolvency#:~:text=The%20Trustees%20project%20that%20Social,percent%20of%20payroll%20by%202095. Accessed 12 Nov. 2020. 

Regan, Dawn Sauter, Jennifer Shand, and Jon Sperl. "Monthly Budget Review:

Summary for Fiscal Year 2020." Congressional Budget Office Monthly Budget Review: Summary for Fiscal Year 2020, 9 Nov. 2020, www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-11/56746-MBR.pdf. Accessed 11 Nov. 2020. 

Rushe, Dominic. "Big tech and corporate tax cuts: the targets of Joe Biden's urgent economic plans." British Broadcasting Corporation, 7 Nov. 2020, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/07/joe-biden-most-urgent-economic-plans-key-elements. Accessed 11 Nov. 2020.

Wheelwright, Tom. "How the Top Five 2020 Democratic Candidates' Tax Plans May Impact Entrepreneurs." Entrepreneur, 21 Jun. 2019, www.entrepreneur.com/article/335544. Accessed 12 Nov. 2020. 

Wilkie, Christina. "Biden proposes a tax penalty for offshoring and new credits for manufacturing investments." CNBC, 9 Sept. 2020, www.cnbc.com/2020/09/09/biden-proposes-tax-penalty-for-offshoring-tax-credit-for-us-investment.html. Accessed 12 Nov. 2020. 

Zarroli, Jim. "$3.1 Trillion: Pandemic Spending Drives The Federal Budget Deficit To A Record." National Public Radio, 16 Oct. 2020, www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/10/16/924582156/-3-1-trillion-pandemic-spending-drives-the-federal-budget-deficit-to-a-record. Accessed 12 Nov. 2020. 

The 2020 Federal Elections: What Happened?

The 2020 Federal Elections: What Happened?

Introduction: Yesterday morning, after four days of ballot counting, Democratic candidate Joe Biden was declared the winner in the presidential election, with counting and related electoral procedures continuing in multiple states (LeMire et al.). Yet, despite all results being incomplete, the existing results have already revealed important trends that have serious implications for the next few electoral cycles. Today's post will only provide a brief rundown of both the results and trends, but there is no need to worry, as I am working on future posts that will go more in-depth into this year's elections, especially once the results become more complete. 

President: 

Image Source: Kingofthedead."File:ElectoralCollege2020 with results.svg." Wikimedia Commons, last modified 7 Nov. 2020, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ElectoralCollege2020_with_results.svg. Accessed 9 Nov. 2020. 

As of the time of this post's publication (8pm PST on 11/8/2020), Joe Biden (D) currently sits at 279 projected electoral votes, and Donald Trump (R) at 214. Biden flipped back the "Rust Belt Three" (Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin) that gave Donald Trump his narrow 2016 victory, flipped Nebraska's 2nd district (Nebraska and Maine allocate two votes to the statewide winner and one vote per each House district's presidential winner), and held on to all of Hillary Clinton's states. Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina are currently unprojected, with Biden leading in the middle two, and Trump leading the outer two. Georgia currently awaits the results of a mandatory recount, although the former Vice President currently holds an 11,000 vote winning margin there (Czachor). Biden is also narrowly leading in Arizona, but as the state is still counting votes, Trump might still have a narrow path there ("Biden leads"). Trump is currently leading North Carolina by a narrow margin, with some ballots left to count ("Election Results 2020: Why"). In addition to the electoral college, Biden has a majority of the popular vote, with a winning margin of around 3% and over 4 million raw votes ("Presidential"). 

President Trump has not conceded the election, although reports indicate that there is growing pressure from prominent Republicans and close acquaintances to do so (Bennett et al.; Desiderio). At the same time, he and his legal team have launched lawsuits in multiple close states (Abrams and Abramson), and have continued to spread varying allegations of voter and electoral fraud that have been extensively debunked (McEvoy). 

Senate: After polls closed on Election Day, it appeared that Democratic hopes to take back the Senate were lost, as Republicans Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) beat back strong Democratic challenges, and Thom Tillis (R-NC) has likely done so as well (his race is currently unprojected, but he is leading Cal Cunningham by over 2%). Meanwhile, Democratic candidates Barbara Bollier, Steve Daines, and Jaime Harrison failed to win Kansas, Montana, and South Carolina by double digits, despite polling showing close races in all three. Democratic Senator Gary Peters (D) narrowly won against Republican rising star John James, the latter of whom has not yet conceded (Censky). Finally, Alaska's Senate race is unprojected due to a large number of mail ballots that will not be counted until at least November 10th (Kilgore). Assuming Senators Tillis and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) win in the end, the new Senate will have at least 50 Republicans and 48 Democrats (including the two independents caucusing with them). 

Not all the Senate results were bad for Democrats, as ex-Governor John Hickenlooper (D) predictably defeated Sen. Cory Gardner (R) in the increasingly-blue Colorado, and John McCain (R)'s former seat turned blue with Mark Kelly (D), an ex-astronaut and husband of ex-Representative Gabby Giffords (D). It was recently announced that in addition to Georgia's Special Election, the regular Senate election between incumbent David Purdue (R) and challenger Jon Ossoff (D) will go to a January runoff (Barrow). While national Democrats are hoping for a late-hour double upset that would give them 50-50 control of the Senate (with VP-elect Kamala Harris breaking ties), there are good arguments on both sides for what could happen (Rogers et al.). I plan to dedicate a whole post to discussing Georgia's double Senate runoffs sometime soon, especially focusing on the competing arguments for what could happen. 

House: The House election results appear to be even more disappointing for Democrats than the Senate and Presidential results. While Democrats have been projected to keep a majority, at least seven incumbents lost re-election, six of them first-time members. In South Florida, Reps. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL-26) and Donna Shalala (FL-27) both lost because of a massive electoral shift among the Cuban-American vote in Miami. Meanwhile, Reps. Kendra Horn (OK-5)'s, Xochitl Torres Small's (NM-2), and Joe Cunningham's (SC-1) luck all ran out after the three won upsets in longtime Republican districts two years ago. In the Midwest, Rep. Abby Finkenauer (IA-1) went down in a mixed rural/small city district as both Trump and Senator Joni Ernst (R) rolled to solid victories in the Buckeye State. Longtime conservative Democratic Representative Collin Peterson (MN-7) lost in a district historically known for ticket-splitting. New York contains multiple close races with ongoing ballot counting, including freshman Anthony Brindisi, who won a close race in 2018 in a heavily Trump district and is trailing the Republican he defeated then. Out West, Orange County freshmen Representatives Harley Rouda (D) and Gil Cisneros (D) are trailing behind Republican opponents (Cisneros is running in a rematch) after both contributed to Democrats winning all of Orange County's House seats 2 years ago, while Utah Rep. Ben McAdams (UT-4) is narrowly leading in suburban Salt Lake City. In the open IA-2, Democrat Rita Hart is only leading by 161 votes against a Republican opponent, while fellow Iowa Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne narrowly won a second term in a district anchored by Des Moines. Finally, another group of other incumbent Democrats (most in at least moderately-blue districts) who had previously won solid re-elections also faced surprisingly close victories, including DCCC Chair and Rep. Cheri Bustos (IL-17), Kathleen Rice (NY-4), Joseph Morelle (NY-25), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15), Ron Kind (WI-3), and Tim Ryan (OH-13) ("House Election"). 

Aside from North Carolina's 2nd and 6th (both are now solid-blue districts resulting from redistricting), the only Republican House seat Democrats have picked up is suburban Atlanta's GA-7, the closest House race in 2018 (Coyne). Despite their efforts to gain more seats, Democratic candidates fell short in a plethora of high-profile urban and suburban targets (most of which were close in 2018), including AZ-6, IN-5, MI-3, MO-2, NC-8, NJ-2, NY-2, PA-10, TX-21, TX-22, TX-24, and VA-5. Probably the worst sting is the victory of Republican Tony Gonzales in TX-23 (home of retiring moderate Republican Will Hurd), a seat almost universally-predicted to flip (Cai et al.). At this moment, the only Republican-held district that still has a chance of flipping is suburban CA-25, held by Mike Garcia (R), who captured the seat earlier this year in a special election to replace 2018 freshman Representative Katie Hill (D), who resigned last year after the unveiling of a major scandal. As of publication time, Garcia is slightly ahead of Democrat Christy Smith, whom he defeated back in June for the seat ("House Election"). 

Considering the above information, the Democrats will end up losing net House seats, although the exact amount depends on how the remaining races fare after all ballots are counted. As of this article's publication, they are projected to hold 213 seats, while Republicans will have at least 199, with another 23 races unprojected ("House Election"). 

Electoral Trends (General)

• The Trump era educated suburban shift continued: One of the biggest electoral trends of the Trump era has been the decline of traditionally-Republican educated suburbs, especially in the Sun Belt and Midwest, as many of these voters are turned off by Trump. In 2016, well-educated suburbs around the country swung heavily towards Hillary Clinton (Silver), a trend that continued into the 2018 midterms (Rossman). This year proved that the Democrats' potential ceiling in said places has still not been reached, as Joe Biden continued to improved over Clinton in educated suburbs surrounding Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, Hampton Roads, Washington D.C., Kansas City, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and elsewhere. 
• The "Shy Trumpers" showed their power, but didn't bring home the election for Trump: After the 2016 election, speculation as to the cause of Trump's victory was heavily focused on the "Shy Trumper" theory, in which many Trump voters lied or misled pollsters to avoid being stigmatized (e.g. social desirability). Prior to Election Day 2020, there was some caution expressed in the media that the "Shy Trump" vote could happen again, and that polling was not capturing this group when showing Joe Biden with a massive lead (Stanton). This year, while Democratic and -leaning voters turned out heavily for Biden, Trump voters also turned out heavily, which may have been critical in close Senate and House races, and kept Biden's margin down in the closest battleground states. 
• The Democrats witnessed a significant decline among Latinos. In some places: Already, one of the biggest stories regarding this year's election is a sizable decline of Democratic support by Latino and Hispanic voters (Jennings). In particular, two regions have been noted to stand out as evidence of this trend: The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) in Texas, and South Florida (Parker; Sesin). South Florida's decline is largely attributed to Cuban-Americans and other similar groups heavily increasing their support for Trump, something that was discussed beforehand (Sesin). The extent of Biden's decline in the RGV is significant, as Trump appears to have won, or came very close in several majority-Latino counties that haven't voted for a Republican in a while, and improved significantly in others (Parker). Current speculation has focused on the argument that Biden's environmental proposals, which would eliminate many oil-based jobs in the region, and that many voters in the region are upset with the continued Democratic obsession over social issues, and that proposed tax hikes would also strain the region. In addition, while many Latino voters in the region opposed Trump's border wall, they also felt that national Democratic views on immigration enforcement and police did not align with local views (Villarreal). On the other hand, it has also been noted that while this trend is apparent in South Florida and Texas, Biden's decline among Latino voters does not seem to be as extreme in the Southwest or West, such as Nevada (Cai et al.). As stated before, it is important to keep in mind that several of these states in the region are still counting votes. 
• Some historical blue-collar working-class Trump Democrats came back, but others didn't: Aside from the "Shy Trumpers," one of the big post-2016 talking points was the massive Democratic decline in rural and blue-collar America, especially among historically-Democratic blue collar voters attracted to Trump's economic populism (Cooper). Like with the "Democratic Latino slide," this year's preliminary results seem more mixed. For example, Biden improved significantly throughout New England and Eastern Pennsylvania (including his hometown of Scranton), although he didn't match Obama's numbers in blue-collar counties. Yet, Trump improved over his 2016 margin in parts of the Midwest and Rust Belt, especially winning Mahoning County, Ohio (home of Youngstown), a historical industrial blue-collar county that last voted Republican in 1972, and Lorain (a similar county outside Cleveland) for the first time since 1984. A future post will go over these and other counties that flipped and ended longtime voting streaks. 

Election Results being referenced:

"2016 Presidential Election Results." New York Times, last accessed 9 Aug. 2017,  www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/president. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

"House Election Results 2020." CNN, www.cnn.com/election/2020/results/house. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

"Presidential Election Results and Map 2020." CNN, last updated 8 Nov. 2020, www.cnn.com/election/2020/results/president?iid=politics_election_national_map. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

"Senate Election Results 2020." CNN, www.cnn.com/election/2020/results/senate. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Works Cited:

Abrams, Alana, and Abigail Abramson. "Here Are All the Lawsuits the Trump Campaign Has Filed Since Election Day—And Why Most Are Unlikely to Go Anywhere." Time Magazine, 8 Nov. 2020, time.com/5908505/trump-lawsuits-biden-wins/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Barrow, Bill. "Twin Senate Runoffs in Georgia could shape Biden presidency." Associated Press, 6 Nov. 2020, apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-senate-elections-georgia-5fbe1eb389b8ff80ba7b7ee25d8d0d8b. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Bennett, Kate, et al. "Jared Kushner, Melania Trump advise Trump to accept election loss." CNN, 8 Nov. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/11/08/politics/jared-kushner-donald-trump-concession/index.html. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

"Biden leads Trump by 20,102 votes in Arizona Sunday afternoon." 12 News, last updated 8 Nov. 2020, www.12news.com/article/news/politics/elections/maricopa-county-drops-latest-ballot-counts-in-2020-election-arizona/75-dcd079d6-905b-4886-8eb8-f9aab5b51ff5. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Cai, Mandi, et al. "Joe Biden’s struggles along the Texas border raise questions about Democrats’ outreach there." Texas Tribune, 4 Nov. 2020, www.texastribune.org/2020/11/04/joe-biden-texas-border-democrats/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Censky, Abigail. "GOP Senate Candidate John James Refuses To Concede, Claims Irregularities In Votes." National Public Radio, 7 Nov. 2020, www.npr.org/2020/11/07/932422850/gop-senate-candidate-john-james-refuses-to-concede-claims-irregularities-in-vote. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Cooper, Matthew. "How Donald Trump Courted White Americans to Victory." Newsweek, 9 Nov. 2016, www.newsweek.com/2016/11/18/donald-trump-white-working-class-voters-election-2016-519095.html. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Coyne, Amanda. "Bourdeaux wins 7th Congressional District race, flipping suburban seat." Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 6 Nov. 2020, www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/bourdeaux-wins-7th-congressional-district-race-flipping-suburban-seat/JRMDDZXR5JB3RAKXUDXSRALWXQ/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Czachor, Emily. "Stacey Abrams Says Georgia Recount Will Still Say Joe Biden Won the State." Newsweek, 8 Nov. 2020, www.newsweek.com/stacey-abrams-says-georgia-recount-will-still-say-joe-biden-won-state-1545865. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Desiderio, Andrew. "Trump's refusal to concede amps up pressure on GOP." Politico, www.politico.com/news/2020/11/08/trumps-refusal-to-concede-pressure-gop-435124. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

"Election results 2020: Why a winner hasn't been declared in the presidential race in North Carolina." WTVD-TV 11, 7 Nov. 2020, abc11.com/election-results-2020-nc-called-when-will-be/7733948/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Jennings, Scott. "Election 2020 exit polls: Political pundits utterly failed to predict Donald Trump's voters." USA Today, 7 Nov. 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/11/07/election-2020-exit-polls-trump-minorities-race-women-column/6191966002/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Kilgore, Ed. "Alaska’s Slow Ballot Count Adds to Senate Uncertainty." New York Magazine, 6 Nov. 2020, nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/11/2020-elections-slow-alaska-count-adds-to-senate-uncertainty.html. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

LeMire, Jonathan, Zeke Miller, and Will Weissert. "Biden defeats Trump for White House, says 'time to heal.'" Associated Press, 7 Nov. 2020, apnews.com/article/joe-biden-wins-white-house-ap-fd58df73aa677acb74fce2a69adb71f9. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Parker, Kolten. "4 big takeaways for Texas, Bexar County after 2020 election." KSAT News, 4 Nov. 2020, www.ksat.com/vote-2020/2020/11/04/4-big-takeaways-for-texas-bexar-county-after-2020-election/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Rogers, Alex, Manu Raju, and Fredreka Schouten. "GOP to argue Georgia Senate runoffs would be key to check Biden and a Democratic House." CNN, 7 Nov. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/11/06/politics/2020-election-georgia-senate-race-runoffs/index.html. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Rossman, Sean. "The suburbs turned on Republicans and Trump. The midterm election results prove it." USA Today, 8 Nov. 2018, www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/11/08/midterms-suburbs-republicans-democrats-trump/1921590002/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Sesin, Carmen. "Trump cultivated the Latino vote in Florida, and it paid off." NBC News, 3 Nov. 2020, www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/trump-cultivated-latino-vote-florida-it-paid-n1246226. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Silver, Nate. "Education, Not Income, Predicted Who Would Vote For Trump." FiveThirtyEight, 22 Nov. 2020, fivethirtyeight.com/features/education-not-income-predicted-who-would-vote-for-trump/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020. 

Stanton, Zach. "‘People Are Going To Be Shocked’: Return of the ‘Shy’ Trump Voter?." Politico, 29 Oct. 2020, www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/10/29/2020-polls-trump-biden-prediction-accurate-2016-433619. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020.

Sullivan, Robert David. "How the red and blue map evolved over the past century." America: The Jesuit Review, 29 Jun. 2016, www.americamagazine.org/content/unconventional-wisdom/how-red-and-blue-map-evolved-over-past-century. Accessed 7 Nov. 2020.  

Villarreal, Alexandria. "Why Democrats lost Latino voters along Texas border: 'They relied on loyalty'." The Guardian, 7 Nov. 2020, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/07/how-democrats-latino-voters-texas-border-towns. Accessed 7 Nov. 2020.