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Biden named president, Harris
makes history
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
After days of waiting
for ballots to be counted in
several key states, on Sat
urday, Nov. 8, Joseph Rob
inette Biden Jr. was named
the 46th president-elect
of the United States. The
announcement came four
days after Election Day
when election officials in
Pennsylvania announced
that Biden had won the
state’s 20 electoral votes,
giving him a total of 273,
three more than the 270
needed to secure the presi
dency.
A native of Scranton,
Pa., by way of Delaware,
Biden studied at the Uni
versity of Delaware before
earning his law degree
from Syracuse University
in 1968. In 1970 he be
came one of the youngest
senators in American his
tory when he was elected
to represent Delaware. He
was re-elected to the Sen
ate six times before re
signing in 2008 to serve
as Barack Obama’s vice
president.
The president-elect
delivered his acceptance
speech from a drive-in
event in Wilmington, Del.
Biden’s address called for
the country to come to
gether and for the end of
the hate rhetoric that be
came a trademark for the
Trump administration. He
said under his leadership,
there won’t be “red states
or blue states,” only Amer
icans working together
to “restore the soul of the
country.”
“I am humbled by the
confidence you placed
in me. I pledge to be a
president who seeks not
to divide but unify; who
doesn’t see red states
and blue states, only the
United States, and work
with all my heart,” Biden
continued. “I sought this
office to restore the soul
of America, to rebuild the
backbone of this nation,
the middle class, and make
America respected around
the world again ... and to
unite us here at home. It’s
the honor of my lifetime
that so many millions of
Americans have voted for
that vision.”
When addressing
the more the 70 million
Americans who voted for
Donald Trump, Biden said
now is the time to put aside
differences and give each
other a chance.
“It’s time to put away
the harsh rhetoric, lower
the temperature. See each
other again, listen to each
other again,” he continued.
“And to make progress, we
have to stop treating our
opponents as our enemies.
They are not our enemies;
they are Americans.”
While much of the fo
cus was on the president-
elect, it was the Vice Pres
ident-elect Kamala Harris
who made history as the
first woman, first African
American, and person of
South Asian decent to be
elected vice president.
As a graduate of Howard
University, Harris is also
the first HBCU graduate in
office.
Harris’ journey to the
Submitted photo
Four days after Election Day President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris gave their acceptance speech
es last weekend.
White House began in Al-
ameda County where she
worked in the San Fran
cisco District Attorney’s
Office. In 2003 she was
elected district attorney of
San Francisco and in 2010
she was elected attorney
general of California. Six
years later Harris defeated
Loretta Sanchez to be
come the second African
American woman and the
first South Asian American
to serve in the Senate.
As she stood before the
world for the first time as
vice president-elect, Harris
said, “While 1 may be the
first woman in this office,
I will not be the last.” She
said every little girl across
the country can see that
this is a country of possi
bilities.
“To the children of our
country ... our country has
sent you a clear message:
Dream with ambition, lead
with conviction and see
yourselves in a way that
others may not simply be
cause they’ve never seen
it before ... Know we will
applaud you every step of
the way,” Harris said.
As many expected,
Donald Trump has yet to
accept the results of the
election. Instead, the 45th
president has filed several
lawsuits in states across
the country and spread
baseless claims of elec
tion fraud. Meanwhile,
the Biden-Harris ticket
has already began look
ing toward the future. The
president-elect is expected
to announce members of
a COVID-19 task force
sometime this week.
Biden for President has
also launched a transition
website that outlines sev
eral issues the administra
tion plans to address. The
site, www.buildbackbetter.
com, lists COVID-19, ra
cial equality, economic re
covery, and climate change
as the top challenges cur
rently facing the country.
Baker pledges to increase transparency, support education
in Raleigh
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Dr. Amber Baker is
known throughout Win
ston-Salem and Forsyth
County for her work in
education. As the principal
at Kimberly Park Elemen
tary, Baker made a name
for herself as a passionate
educator who was willing
to go above and beyond
to ensure her students had
what they needed to suc
ceed. Now Baker is look
ing to take that same pas
sion and energy to the N.C.
General Assembly.
Baker defeated Re
publican challenger John
Dough with 71% of the
vote for the vacant seat
left by Rep. Derwin Mont
gomery, co-owner of The
Chronicle. Baker said the
afternoon of Election Day,
she fell asleep before the
race was called, but when
she woke up and saw the
dozens of text messages
and other notifications, she
knew she had won.
Heading into Election
Day, she was the heavy
favorite to win the Demo
cratic leaning 72nd Dis
trict. But Baker, who is a
native of Louisville, KY
and a graduate of Winston-
Salem State University,
said she campaigned as if
she was the underdog.
“Everybody kept want
ing to reassure me that I
didn’t have to do a lot, but
one of the things I learned
right out of high school as
a political science major is
that you have to look at ev
erything from all angles,”
Baker said. “So when I
drilled down ... Yes it’s
not a lot of registered Re
publicans, but you have a
www.wschronicle.com
Submitted photo
Dr. Amber Baker
huge contingency of Inde
pendent voters ... and then
you had your Republicans
who were energized, so the
race could’ve been lost. So
I ran the race as if I was
the underdog; I didn’t take
anything for granted.”
In Raleigh, Baker says
some of her main objec
tives will be making much
needed improvements to
the education system, rais
ing the minimum wage,
and creating more pro
grams to help individuals
and families living below
the poverty threshold. She
also mentioned the need to
expand Medicaid.
“In order to build any
kind of strong economy
or community, you have
to have that trifecta,” she
said. “You have to have a
good educational system,
you have to have a good
workforce development
plan, and you have to be
able to provide a variety of
housing that people have
access to.”
When asked how she
plans to leave her mark on
District 72, Baker said, “It
will organically establish
itself as I make myself
available to the constitu
ents in the district.” She
said she is already known
throughout the community
as someone who champi
ons the right causes and
now is her time to build on
that and increase transpar
ency.
“My biggest stamp that
I want is that I increase
transparency in terms
people understand what’s
happening,” Baker contin
ued. “I have aspirations of
having a local office where
people can come in and
get some assistance. May
be that’s too lofty, I don’t
know, but I feel like we
should have somewhere
locally where people can
come in and get informa
tion.
“Beyond policy and
legislative issues, I really
want our people to under
stand how our government
works.”
Baker said she plans to
spend the first few months
in office getting accli
mated to the process and
understanding her role.
She said, “... just trying
to understand the micro-
political piece of it all.
“But trust me, once I
get a hold of it, once I fig
ure out how it all works,
you better hold on.”
To find out more about
Dr. Amber Baker and her
plans for District 72, visit
www.vote4amberbaker.
com.