Biden’s agenda at stake in Georgia Senate battle
Control of the Senate won’t be decided until January runoffs in Georgia after neither party yesterday locked down a majority, launching a mammoth battle to shape President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda and determine the balance of power in Washington.
The deadlock became official after Republicans held the Senate seat in Alaska. There, incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan defeated Al Gross, an independent running as a Democrat, after an onslaught of mail-in ballots delayed counting until Wednesday, a week after Election Day.
Democrats are now denied an immediate path to the majority, but Republicans are also short. Instead, January 5 runoffs for two seats in Georgia will determine whether the Senate becomes a Republican-held brake on Biden’s agenda or a Democratic partnership with the new White House.
“We’ve got to go win Georgia,” said Republican Senator Rick Scott, the incoming chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, after he was elected by his colleagues on Wednesday.
Democrats are amassing an army of volunteers, fuelled by fresh donations from Americans nationwide eager to ensure the Senate, like the Democratic-majority House, has Biden’s back. The “entire Democratic infrastructure” is going to focus on winning Georgia, said one aide, granted anonymity to discuss the situation.
With Biden’s victory, Republicans would need 51 seats for majority control, since the vice president of the party in the White House — soon to be Kamala Harris — becomes a tie-breaker in the Senate.
Republicans now have a 49-48 hold on the Senate heading into the new Congress. One other race remains undecided, in North Carolina, where Democrat Cal Cunningham has conceded to Republican Senator Thom Tillis, but the race is too early to call.
The Senate can make or break the White House’s agenda. With a Democratic Senate, Biden would have allies to easily confirm his nominees, including for Cabinet positions, and shape passage of legislation.
If Republicans keep control, Senate Majority Mitch McConnell can block Biden’s agenda.
It’s unclear how heavily President Donald Trump will fight to keep the Senate in Republican hands after his own election defeat.
As Trump refuses to accept the outcome of the presidential election, waging a legal battle with unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, his Republican allies in the Senate are following his lead. Senate Republicans need Trump’s voters on board for the Georgia race.
The political world swiftly focused on Georgia, where the campaigns have already begun. Republican Kelly Loeffler will face Rafael Warnock, a black pastor from the church where Reverend Martin Luther King Jr preached. And Republican Senator David Perdue, a top Trump ally, will face Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff.
Strategists estimate an eyepopping US$500 million could pour into the state in coming weeks.
Georgia is a politically divided state, with Democrats making gains on Republicans, fuelled by a surge of new voters. But no Democrat has been elected senator there in two decades.
Yesterday, Republican Senator Marco Rubio joined Loeffler and Perdue’s wife, Bonnie, for a crowded, indoor rally, despite the out-ofcontrol Covid-19 crisis, as Republican senators join the push to salvage their majority.
Loeffler and Perdue stunned many this week when they jointly called their own state election system an “embarrassment” as Biden was leading over Trump. Georgia’s Secretary of State yesterday announced an audit of presidential election results with a full hand tally of ballots because the margin is so tight.