Georgia’s Senate Races Head into Overtime

The Nov. 3 election saw President-Elect Joe Biden flip the traditionally Republican-leaning state of Georgia in favor of Democrats as he added the state’s 16 electoral votes to his overall total of 306 to beat President Donald Trump for control of the White House.

While Biden’s victory in the Peach State was concise, two key senate races between Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raffael Warnock and their incumbent Republican opponents Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler were not so clear. Both races triggered election runoffs on Jan. 5, 2021, as none of the candidates received 50% or more votes required to secure Georgia’s senate seats. 

Ossoff, the Democratic challenger received 47.9 percent of votes compared to his opponent, Perdue, who received 49.7 percent of votes. Ossoff is a former investigative journalist and congressional candidate in Georgia’s 6th District. The incumbent Sen. Perdue is a former businessman and former vice president of Reebok. He has been serving as one of Georgia’s two senators since being elected in 2014. 

A special election, which took place alongside the general election, saw Democratic challenger Rev. Warnock receive 32.9 percent of votes to Loeffler’s 25.9 percent. Reverend Warnock has been the senior pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, once headed by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., since 2005. Incumbent Sen. Loeffler was appointed to her position in the U.S. Senate by Gov. Brian Kemp in Dec. 2019 after her predecessor, Sen. Johnny Isakson, resigned from his position due to health issues. Loeffler was also a former businessperson and is regarded as the wealthiest member of congress, estimated to be worth between $800 million and $1 billion. 

As it currently stands, there are 50 Republican senators and 48 Democratic-leaning senators (two Independents, Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT) and Sen. Angus King (ME) usually vote alongside their Democratic colleagues). If Democrats are to win these two senate seats, they would gain a majority in the United States Senate with Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris breaking the tie should one arise on the floor. 

Both parties recognize the importance of these two senate elections. Should Democrats win, they would have control of both the House and the Senate as well as the White House. Some experts estimate that between the Nov. 3 election and the Jan. 5 runoff, nearly a billion dollars could be inserted into Georgia for candidates’ campaigns. 

Republicans have framed the Georgia election as a must-win in order to provide a check on the Biden presidency. They would able to veto some legislation and even, if they chose to do so, block some of President-elect Biden’s potential cabinet and Supreme Court nominees. 

However, with the current skepticism of election integrity by some Republicans, GOP leaders face a conundrum as some conservative Georgians have gone as far as to call for a boycott of the Jan. 5 runoff. 

On Nov. 28, Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel of the Republican National Convention faced angry Republican voters who seemed frustrated by unfounded claims that the presidential election was rigged and pre-determined. 

“It’s not decided,” said McDaniel. “This is the key – it’s not decided. So if you lose your faith and you don’t vote and people walk away – that will decide it.”

Other prominent Republicans including Sen. Marco Rubio (FL) and President Trump have held rallies and other events in Georgia hoping to gain support for their fellow Republicans. While most GOP leaders have not yet publicly acknowledged Biden’s victory, many understand that without retaining these two senate seats, there would be little to stop a Democratic agenda from succeeding.

Meanwhile, Democrats are desperately trying to repeat the party’s success in the presidential election. Many leaders, like former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, whose work in Georgia to register and protect voters has been widely praised by Democrats for having won Biden the state’s electoral votes, have been fighting to gain control of the senate to allow President-elect Biden’s agenda to succeed. 

Losing the races, they say, would be a repeat of an era when Republicans’ control of the Senate and House limited President Barack Obama’s ability to pass legislation. 

Although historically, Georgia runoffs have spelled losses for Democrats, the party hopes that this time they can turn things around. Perdue and Loeffler are tied up in insider trading scandals after several accounts show each bought and sold stock upon learning about the dangers of COVID-19 back in February. Democrats have painted the two senators as wealthy elites who care little for the interests of average Georgians. 

Regardless of the outcome of the Jan. 5 runoff, the election will undoubtably shape national politics for at least the next few years as Democrats hope to advance their legislation while Republicans hope to prevent a Biden administration from wrestling too much control over the federal government.