Georgia voters set to decide Senate control
GEORGIA voters are set to decide the balance of power in the US Congress in a pair of high-stakes Senate runoff elections that will help determine Joe Biden’s capacity to enact what may be the most progressive governing agenda in generations.
Republicans are unified against the president-elect’s plans for health care, environmental protection and civil rights, but some fear that outgoing president Donald Trump’s brazen attempts to undermine the integrity of the nation’s voting systems may discourage voters in the state.
At a rally in north-west Georgia on Monday, Mr Trump repeatedly claimed the November elections were plagued by fraud that Republican officials, including his former attorney general and Georgia’s elections chief, say did not occur.
The president called Georgia’s Republican secretary of state “crazy” and vowed to help defeat him in two years. At the same time, Mr Trump encouraged his support
ers to show up in force for Georgia’s contests.
Democrats must win both of the state’s Senate elections to gain the Senate majority. The Senate would be equally divided 50-50, with vice president-elect Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaker for Democrats.
Democrats secured a narrow House of Representatives majority and the White House during November’s general election.
Even a closely divided Democratic Senate is not likely to guarantee Mr Biden everything he wants, given Senate rules that require 60 votes to move most major legislation. But if Democrats lose even one of the contests, he would have little scope for his most ambitious plans to expand government-backed health care coverage, strengthen the middle class, address racial inequality and combat climate change. A Republican-controlled Senate also would create a rougher path for Mr Biden’s cabinet picks and judicial nominees.
Georgia’s elections, necessary because no Senate candidates won a majority of the general election votes, have been unique for many reasons, not least because the contenders essentially ran as teams, even campaigning together.
One contest features Democrat Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor of the Atlanta church where murdered civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr grew up and preached. He is facing Republican senator Kelly Loeffler, a 50-year-old former businesswoman who was appointed to the Senate less than a year ago by the state’s Republican governor.
The other election pits 71-yearold former business executive David Perdue, who held the Senate seat until his term officially expired on Sunday, against Democrat Jon Ossoff, a former congressional aide and journalist.