North Carolina political experts discuss what this election means moving forward

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- While not unprecedented, President Donald Trump's one-term presidency served as a referendum for many voters.

"Unseating a sitting President is unusual," said Marian Lewin with the League of Women Voters. "Having a woman and a woman of color to Vice President is also really amazing. It's a pretty amazing election."

Democrat Joe Biden became the apparent winner of Pennsylvania early Saturday morning, thus positioning him to be the President-elect of the United States and soon-to-be 46th President in our nation's history.

The news came as President Donald Trump was golfing Saturday morning in Virginia.

"It's a historic election in the first instance," said North Carolina Central University law professor Dr. Irving Joyner. "And that means there is a dramatic break of the administration of the past and a dramatic break for the future. Or at least for the next four years."

ABC News exit polls conducted on Election Day, over the course of in-person early voting, and other calls show more women voted than men. The percentages support 55% versus 45%. In contrast, 53% of men supported Trump and 44% supported Biden; 53% of women said they supported Biden and 45% supported President Trump.

Dr. Joyner believes this election was not just Democrat versus Republican.

"Another part was the rejection of Donald Trump. And outrage expressed by many African Americans about the Trump administration and what African Americans perceived that Donald Trump had done to this country and to the democracy and to efforts by African Americans to participate and disenfranchise," said Dr. Joyner. "I don't think it was directed so much toward the Republican Party and other Republican candidates because the results do not match an outrage against Republicans and Republican candidates."

For Lewin and the League of Women's Voters, the selection and election of Kamala Harris is historic. Harris became the first woman and first African American to be elected as Vice President.

"I think having a woman Vice President is terribly significant," said Lewin. "It's something women have been thinking about for a very long time. It hasn't happened for many reasons. I think more and more women who have been elected to all levels of government and to encourage women that they need to put themselves out there and become candidates and they can do it. It's something that is not reserved for older white men."

"I think (Sen. Harris) drove mobilization of a lot of the African American community in particular," added Dr. Joyner. "Those individuals who are part of the AKAs, Divine Nine, the graduates of HBCUs, people who are connected to the HBCUs, they felt invested in this campaign. And they went out into communities as a part of the campaign."