Georgia is sure to be on everyone’s mind for more than one reason. After a likely flip towards Democratic nominee Joe Biden for President, the one-time solid republican state could see more changes on the horizon.
If projections remain unaltered, two runoff races in Georgia could decide the fate of the U.S. Senate on Jan. 5. Should the Democrats score a win in both of them, President-Elect Biden would hold a legislative majority over the Republicans, who will look to block that from happening.
A lot will be hanging in the balance for the country over the next couple months. With that a record amount of money will be pumped into Georgia knowing what is at stake for either party. Many are predicting the all-star cast of campaigners will return to the state for a second round in the coming weeks. Biden, along with President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Vice Presidential-elect Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama will be hitting Georgia hard in support of their candidates.
The count in the U.S. Senate stands tied at 48 with uncalled races in North Carolina and Alaska likely to stay in the GOP’s control. A shift to Georgia sees democratic hopefuls Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock attempting to follow Biden’s lead in the new south.
Votes are still being counted to determine whether Ossoff will meet Republican incumbent Sen. David Perdue in a runoff. Georgia law requires an outright majority to win a statewide office. Warnock will face Sen. Kelly Loeffler in a special election to fill the unexpired term of former Sen. Johnny Isakson.
What this means for the Democrats is the expiration of Mitch McConnell’s majority rule with possible expansion of the 2010 Affordable Care Act and the repeal of some of Trump’s top-end tax cuts.
Republicans are fearful of what may happen by losing the Senate.
“David Perdue won this race in regular time and will do the same in overtime,” said Kevin McLaughlin, executive director of the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, blasting Ossoff as a front man for “national Democrats and their shared dream of a socialist America.”
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, was harsher. “We are in danger of losing the Senate to extremist liberals who want to raise your taxes, defund the police and pass legislation for a sweeping government takeover,” Hawley wrote in a fundraising pitch for Loeffler.
Democrats remain ready for the challenge ahead. Georgia Democratic Chairwoman Nikema Williams, who was elected to succeed the late Rep. John Lewis in Congress, said it’s impossible to separate Senate control from issues that matter to voters on the ground.
“That national conversation has implications for every Georgian,” she said, noting that McConnell has blocked Democratic bills to expand the Voting Rights Act and send aid to state and local governments hammered by the pandemic and would do the same on health care and other Biden initiatives. “I can’t wait to have that discussion,” Williams said.
If Biden goes on to win Georgia, he’ll be the first Democrat to take the state in 28 years. Trump won the state by 5.09 percentage points in 2016, and Democrats have lost nearly every statewide contest for two decades.