It was an unusual election season.
With record early and absentee voting, Americans across the nation voted during a deadly pandemic, a historic reckoning over racial justice and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Throughout the process, PBS NewsHour Weekend criss-crossed the country including key battleground states to speak to voters about issues they most care about and how they plan to vote.
September 12, 2020
In Lehigh Valley, PA, economic concerns predate the pandemic
NewsHour Weekend’s new series “Road to Elections 2020” kicks off in the swing state of Pennsylvania, which flipped for Republicans in 2016. Christopher Booker reports from the Lehigh Valley in Northeast Pennsylvania where concerns over the economy predate the COVID-19 pandemi
October 11, 2020
After a summer of FEW tourists, winter is coming for Maine’s small businesses
Small business owners in Maine that rely on a tourist-filled summer have been shuttering shops since the start of the pandemic. With negotiations over a stimulus package stalled, and the cold season approaching, many of them face a bleak future. Christopher Booker reports as part of our ongoing series, “Roads to Election 2020.
October 12, 2020
Mobile outreach: A lifeline during COVID-19
For Preble Street Resource Center, a social services agency in Portland, Maine, adapting to the pandemic has meant the soup kitchen can’t serve indoor meals, social workers can’t meet clients in their offices, and limiting the number of people allowed in shelters -- all at a time when these services are needed the most. Christopher Booker reports on how a truck has helped solve the problem.
October 25, 2020
Sports, activism and COVID-19 create unlikely polling place in Brooklyn
New York State has never allowed early voting for a presidential election before—but nothing about 2020 has been normal. NY early voting began Saturday, and as New Yorkers lined up around the block to cast their ballots an unlikely venue opened its doors to voters. NewHour Weekend’s Christopher Booker reports from the Barclays Center, normally a sports venue, now a voting hub in Brooklyn, NY.
October 31, 2020
Unprecedented spending for 2020 political ads
The 2020 election cycle is by far the most expensive campaign year in U.S. history. Advertising spending for candidates running for federal office has reached unprecedented amounts, totaling at least $2.5 billion on TV ads so far. Erika Franklin Fowler, co-founder of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political advertising, joins NewsHour Weekend’s Christopher Booker to discuss the different purposes, priorities and methods for political ads.
November 1, 2020
In PA, will unrest over BLM translate to votes?
After a major push, voter registration in Philadelphia hit a 35-year high this election cycle. But with William Wallace Jr.’s death by police shooting weighing heavily on the Black community, local leaders are urging voters not to give in to disillusionment, and get out the vote. Christopher Booker reports as part of our ongoing series: Chasing the Dream: Poverty, Opportunity and Justice in America.
November 8, 2020
Police reform draws big response from Black voters
African-Americans took centerstage on Saturday night as President-elect Joe Biden thanked them for always “having [his] back” and propelling him to victory. NewsHour Weekend’s Christopher Booker reports from Philadelphia, a city whose Black voters helped Biden carry the state of Pennsylvania and the race.
November 14, 2020
Biden has big climate change plans. But can he get it done?
President-elect Joe Biden has put the climate crisis at the top of his incoming administration’s agenda with ambitious goals ranging from rejoining the Paris Agreement to a $ 2 trillion plan to transition to clean energy. To pass these laws, he will have to deal with a possibly GOP-controlled Senate and multilateral cooperation with America’s allies. Christopher Booker reports.