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The president-elect is expected to issueexecutive orders to deal with the pan-demic and to rejoin the effort to fightclimate change. PAGE P13

ELECTION 2020

Plans for Action on Day 1The Supreme Court is scheduled to heararguments Tuesday, backed by theTrump administration, seeking to de-stroy the Affordable Care Act.

NATIONAL A12

Health Care on Docket, AgainIf Republicans hold the Senate, a Bidenadministration could take a cue fromPresident Trump and act unilaterally onsome economic issues. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-6

Biden’s Economic OptionsWith many teams refusing to come, theRose Garden ceremony, once unifying,has become another political fault line,Kurt Streeter writes. PAGE B7

SPORTSMONDAY B7-11

Champions’ Fraught Choice Charles M. Blow PAGE A18

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A18-19

MARIETTA, Ga. — It took a life-time for Angie Jones to become aDemocrat.

As a young woman, she was theproud daughter of a conservativefamily active in Republican poli-tics. Ten years ago, after a friend’sson came out as gay, Ms. Jones be-came an independent, though onewho watched Fox News. After the2016 election, Ms. Jones, a stay-at-home mother in Johns Creek, apristine wealthy suburb north ofAtlanta, became frustrated withher conservative friends defend-ing President Trump throughscandal after scandal.

And this year, she voted for Jo-seph R. Biden Jr., after spendingmonths phone banking, canvass-ing and organizing for Democraticcandidates with a group of subur-ban women across Atlanta.

“I feel like the Republican Partyleft me,” said Ms. Jones, 54. “Itvery much created an existentialcrisis for me.”

This week, the political evolu-tion of voters like Ms. Jones droveGeorgia to a breakthrough forDemocrats: Mr. Biden, the presi-dent-elect, is on the verge of add-ing the state to his winning elec-toral margin, with a narrow leadthat is nevertheless a dramaticsign of the shifting politics of theSouth.

And two Democratic candi-dates, the Rev. Dr. Raphael G.Warnock and Jon Ossoff, forcedrunoff elections on Jan. 5 thatshould decide control of the Sen-ate, and the fate of much of Mr. Bi-den’s agenda. With the Novemberelection barely over, the nation’spolitical focus will now turn toGeorgia as much as the presiden-

Political Focus Is Now Georgia,State of Change

By LISA LERERand RICHARD FAUSSET

Continued in Election 2020, Page 7

At a restaurant several yearsago, a stranger went up to AlexTrebek, the longtime host of“Jeopardy!” and as strangers of-ten did, tried to stump him.

“The American flag flies here 24hours a day, every day of the year,”the stranger said, using the quizshow host’s particular locution, inwhich questions are delivered asanswers.

Mr. Trebek sensed that thestranger was looking for some-thing more clever than a list ofwhich buildings, like the WhiteHouse, had been authorized to flythe flag through the night. Andwithout missing a beat he an-swered in the form of a question:“What is the moon?”

The quick-witted Mr. Trebek,who died on Sunday at age 80 af-

ter a battle with cancer that drewlegions of fans to rally around him,hosted “Jeopardy!” for a record-setting 37 years. He was an au-thoritative and unflappable fix-ture for millions of Americanswho organized their weeknightsaround the program, shouting outthe questions as Mr. Trebek readthe answers with his impeccablediction.

One major appeal of the show,apart from its intellectual chal-lenge, was its consistency. Overthe years its format stayed reli-ably familiar, as did Mr. Trebek,though he trimmed back hisbushy head of hair, grew grayerand occasionally sported a mus-tache, beard or goatee. Otherwisehe was the model of a steady andpredictable host — a no-nonsensepresence, efficient in his role and

ALEX TREBEK, 1940-2020

Unflappable Host Who Gave America the AnswersBy KATHARINE Q. SEELYE

Alex Trebek in 2005. He became the face of “Jeopardy!” in 1984.JEOPARDY PRODUCTIONS

Continued on Page A16

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. preparedon Sunday to start building his ad-ministration, even as Republicanleaders and scores of party law-makers refrained from acknowl-edging his victory out of apparentdeference to President Trump,who continued to refuse to con-cede.

With Mr. Biden out of the publiceye as he received congratula-tions from leaders around theworld, his team turned its atten-tion to a transition that will swinginto action on Monday, with thelaunch of a coronavirus task forceand swift moves to begin assem-bling personnel.

But more than 24 hours afterthe election had been declared, avast majority of Republicans de-clined to offer statements of goodwill for the victor, a customarystandard after American presi-dential contests, as Mr. Trump de-fied the results and vowed to forgeahead with long-shot lawsuits totry to overturn them.

While some prominent Republi-can figures, including the party’sonly living former president,George W. Bush, called Mr. Bidento wish him well, most elected offi-cials stayed silent in the face of Mr.Trump’s baseless claims that theelection was stolen from him.

Mr. Biden did not respond to Mr.Trump’s attacks on the result, buthe also was not waiting for a con-cession. On Sunday, he unveiledhis official transition website as heprepared a series of executive ac-tions for his first day in the OvalOffice — including rejoining theParis climate accord, moving ag-gressively to confront the corona-virus pandemic and restoring la-bor organizing rights for govern-ment workers — aimed at unwind-ing Mr. Trump’s domestic agendaand repairing the United States’image in the world.

But Republicans’ silence sug-gested that even in defeat, Mr.Trump maintained a powerfulgrip on his party and its electedleaders, who have spent fouryears tightly embracing him orquietly working to avoid offendinghim or his loyal base. For manyprominent Republicans, the presi-dent’s reluctance to accept theelection results created a dilem-ma, making even the most cur-sory expression of support for Mr.Biden seem like a conspicuousbreak with Mr. Trump.

Senator Roy Blunt of Missouriwas the most senior Republican tosuggest Mr. Trump had mostlikely lost and cast doubt on his al-legations of a stolen election, buthe stopped short of referring toMr. Biden as the president-elect inan exceedingly careful televisioninterview.

“It’s time for the president’slawyers to present the facts, andit’s time for those facts to speakfor themselves,” Mr. Blunt, thechairman of the Rules Committee,said on ABC’s “This Week.” “Itseems unlikely that any changescould be big enough to make a dif-

BIDEN TURNS HIS ATTENTION TO TRANSITION,WHILE TRUMP REFUSES TO CONCEDE DEFEAT

Silence in G.O.P. —Aides to President

See Little Hope

By LUKE BROADWATER

Continued in Election 2020, Page 2

On a January evening in 2019,Joseph R. Biden Jr. placed a call tothe mayor of Los Angeles, EricGarcetti, a personal friend and po-litical ally who had just announcedhe would not pursue the Demo-cratic nomination for president.

During their conversation, Mr.Garcetti recalled, Mr. Biden didnot exactly say he had decided tomount his own campaign. The for-mer vice president confided that ifhe did run, he expected PresidentTrump to “come after my family”in an “ugly” election.

But Mr. Biden also said he feltpulled by a sense of moral duty.

“He said, back then, ‘I really amconcerned about the soul of thiscountry,’” Mr. Garcetti said.

Twenty-one months and a weeklater, Mr. Biden stands tri-umphant in a campaign he wagedon just those terms: as a patrioticcrusade to reclaim the Americangovernment from a president heconsidered a poisonous figure.The language he used in that callwith Mr. Garcetti became thewatchwords of a candidacy de-signed to marshal a broad coali-tion of voters against Mr. Trumpand his reactionary politics.

It was not the most inspira-tional campaign in recent times,nor the most daring, nor the mostagile. His candidacy did not stir anObama-like youth movement or aTrump-like cult of personality:There were no prominent reportsof Biden supporters brandingthemselves with “Joe” tattoos andlionizing him in florid murals — oreven holding boat parades in hishonor. Mr. Biden campaigned as asober and conventional presence,rather than as an uplifting heraldof change. For much of the generalelection, his candidacy was not anexercise in vigorous creativity,but rather a case study in disci-pline and restraint.

In the end, voters did what Mr.Biden asked of them and not much

Focus on CharacterSpurred Winner’s

Successful Bid

Continued in Election 2020, Page 8

This article is by AlexanderBurns, Jonathan Martin and KatieGlueck.

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Sunday arriving for Mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine in Wilmington, Del.ANGELA WEISS/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

PHOENIX — Democratsthought it would be enough.

After four years of draconianTrump immigration policies anddivisive messaging, the Bidencampaign courted Latino votersprimarily by reminding them thatJoseph R. Biden Jr. was not Don-ald Trump, that if they felt tar-geted in President Trump’s Amer-ica, a vote for Mr. Biden wouldchange that.

That argument resonated formany Latinos, who became thesecond-largest voting group forthe first time this year.

“He’s come after people likeme,” said Taylor Valencia, 23, afirst-year elementary school-teacher who showed up beforesunrise on Tuesday to vote in per-son in Guadalupe, a predomi-nantly Latino town near Phoenix.“His entire presidency is an attackon my moral values and who Iam.”

But for others, it was Mr. Trumpwho made them feel a part ofAmerica, not targeted by it.

“I have been in this countrysince I was 9, I have been througha lot, and I am American,” saidTeresita Miglio, an accountant inher 60s who immigrated fromCuba and attends an evangelicalchurch in Miami where Mr. Trumpspoke in January. “Abortion is thelitmus test, Jesus is my savior andTrump is my president.”

Mr. Biden is now the president-elect, and as he vows to work “ashard for those who didn’t vote forme as those who did,” as he said inhis victory speech on Saturday, hemust grapple with the fact that Mr.Trump actually improved hisshowing among Latino voters,from under 30 percent in 2016 to

Parties GrappleWith Evolution

Of Latino VoteBy JENNIFER MEDINA

Continued in Election 2020, Page 5

PITTSBURGH — Hours afterPresident-elect Joseph R. BidenJr. declared the coronavirus a toppriority, the magnitude of his taskbecame starkly clear on Sundayas the nation surpassed 10 millioncases and sank deeper into thegrip of what could become theworst chapter of the pandemicyet.

The rate of new cases is soaring,and for the first time is averagingmore than 100,000 a day in theUnited States, which has reportedmore Covid-19 cases than anyother country. An astonishingnumber — one in 441 Americans— have tested positive for the vi-rus just in the last week.

With 29 states setting weeklycase records, the virus is surgingat a worrisome level in more thanhalf the country. Nationwide, hos-pitalizations have nearly doubledsince mid-September, and deathsare slowly increasing again, withfew new interventions in place tostop the spiraling outbreak.

“We are in a terrifying place,”said Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an as-sistant professor of medicine atthe Medical University of SouthCarolina who studies pandemic

response. “All I see is cases con-tinuing to go up, unless we dosomething.”

The nation’s worseningCovid-19 outlook comes at an ex-tremely difficult juncture: Presi-dent Trump, who remains in con-trol of the federal response to theoutbreak for the next 73 days, isopenly at odds with his own co-ronavirus advisers, and the coun-try is heading into a cold winterwhen infections are only expectedto spread faster as people spendmore time indoors.

In a victory speech on Saturdaynight, Mr. Biden said he wasquickly focusing his attention onthe pandemic, including plans onMonday to announce a new taskforce of coronavirus advisers. Buthe faces a nation divided over

‘Terrifying’ Surge Awaits a New AdministrationThis article is by Sarah Mervosh,

Mitch Smith and Giulia McDonnellNieto del Rio.

Continued on Page A5

U.S. Virus Cases Pass10 Million as Colder

Weather Looms

Late Edition

VOL. CLXX . . . . No. 58,872 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2020

Today, mostly sunny, near-recordwarmth, high 73. Tonight, clear,mild, fog late, low 58. Tomorrow, fogearly, some sunshine, mild, high 68.Weather map appears on Page A14.

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