Big moment for Georgia — and all of U.S.
On Tuesday night, Georgia voters changed not only the makeup of their congressional delegation but the balance of power in Washington in ways that will be felt throughout the nation.
In historic U.S. Senate runoff elections, they chose Democratic challengers, the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, over Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, wiping out a two-seat Republican advantage that, once Kamala Harris is sworn in as vice president and presides over the Senate, gives Democrats control of the chamber.
On the heels of President-elect Joe Biden carrying the state in November, the twin wins make real long-held Democratic Party dreams of making Georgia a swing state. But even just six months ago, few imagined that on one night, the Black pastor of one of America’s most revered churches and the Jewish son of an immigrant would score victories that would flip the Senate.
Both men were exceptional candidates running against lackluster, ethically challenged incumbents who weren’t helped by the antics and unpopularity of President Donald Trump. His repeated lie that Georgia was stolen from him and his attacks against Georgia Republican officials created unnecessary headwinds in the state, helping fuel the chaos that erupted Wednesday in Washington Warnock’s win is a reminder that in 2021, many barriers remain to be broken and many firsts to be achieved. The pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, whose previous pastors include Martin Luther King Jr., and King’s father and grandfather, Warnock is the first Black senator from Georgia. He will join Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina as the only two popularly elected Black senators from former Confederate states.
Yet the stellar campaigns run by Warnock and Ossoff would not have been enough for either to win if voters weren’t there to cast ballots for them. If there’s one person and one group of people deserving to be credited for what happened in Georgia, it’s Stacey Abrams and the Black women who’ve been preparing for this moment for years. Abrams, who lost a close race for governor in 2018, is the most visible face and voice of organizing efforts, led by Black women, to register and mobilize Black, Latino and Asian voters. Abrams has also led the fight against voter suppression.
The biggest beneficiary of the electoral fruit yielded by their years-long groundwork is Biden. It’s circular, even poetic, that in February, Black voters in South Carolina resuscitated his presidential campaign and then, nearly one year later, Black voters in Georgia, with Black women in the vanguard, gave him a Democratic majority in the Senate. Without the obstructionist maneuvering of soonto-be former Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, this will allow Biden to attempt a more expansive legislative agenda. But a razor-thin majority amplifies centrist, progressive and Republican voices because each, on any given issue at any given time and in whatever collaboration, will be needed for Biden to achieve legislative success. Welcome to a centrist moment in U.S. politics. What happened in Georgia this week will soon be felt in San Antonio and the rest of the country in the form of new and larger COVID-19 stimulus relief, which Biden and imminent Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York have said are high priorities. The addition of Warnock and Ossoff to the Senate almost guarantees passage of a package that will include $2,000 stimulus checks to Americans — something Mcconnell refused to bring to a vote. Such stimulus, by the way, should be targeted to those in need and not be a blanket for all. Just as important is direct financial aid to cities and counties whose funds have been depleted by the economic cost of the pandemic.
San Antonio doesn’t need such funds to balance its budget, but the city would apply them to any number of its relief programs, including its emergency housing assistance program. Again, the focus must be on those in need.