The Georgia Senate Runoff elections have been called with both Democrats winning. The victories create a tie in the Senate, giving Democrats control as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be the tie-breaker.
Vote Tallies
As of 5pm EST on January 6, with 98% of the vote in, Raphael Warnock leads Kelly Loeffler by 44,488 votes. The margin of 1.4% means there will not be a recount as Georgia state law stipulates that a candidate may only request one if the margin is less than or equal to 0.5%.
The margin is much closer in the other race as Jon Ossoff leads David Perdue by 27,075 votes, a margin of 0.6%. While this barely over the threshold it is unlikely a recount would change the results with such a large vote differential.
False Claims From Trump
There was no shortage of drama as President Donald Trump made posts on Twitter making familiar claims of voter and election fraud, even as votes were being counted.
No votes were “found” and “dumped” into the election through the night. It is simply the case that metropolitan areas take longer to count ballots and come in bigger batches than rural, more conservative areas. This effect has been enhanced this election cycle as mail-in and early voting was at all time highs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
These types of false allegations by the president since he lost the November election to Joe Biden may well have contributed to the wins of Warnock and Ossoff. Republican turnout in the runoff appeared to be slightly less strong than it was in the November election when compared to Democratic voters. Even if not the deciding factor, Trump’s insistence that Georgian Republicans had their election stolen by Democrats certainly gave Loeffler and Perdue a higher hill to climb as some conservative voters may have had to be convinced their vote actually mattered.
The New Political Landscape
Democrats will now face pressure to successfully pass bill as they control the House, Senate, and White House. This will not be easy however as Democrats hold a narrow 422 - 411 lead in the House of Representatives to go along with the tie in the Senate. There are no shortage of issues to attend to with the COVID-19 pandemic worsening and the economy still in a downturn.
These issues also present opportunities for Democrats to ingratiate themselves with the American public. A turnaround in the sluggish vaccine rollout, more stimulus checks, and an improved economy could give the party much to work with heading into the 2022 mid-term elections. Republicans will have to manage a split in their party with Trump loyalists if they are to gain power back in Washington DC.
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