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Richard Arnold: Georgia residents go to the polls to decide future of US Senate - Holiday Breakfast
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Georgians cast high-stakes final votes in elections to determine the balance of power in the new Congress, deciding Senate runoff elections sure to shape President-elect Joe Biden's ability to enact what could be the most progressive governing agenda in generations.
Republicans are unified against Biden's plans for health care, environmental protection and civil rights, but some have feared that outgoing President Donald Trump's brazen attempts to undermine the integrity of the nation's voting systems might discourage voters in Georgia.
State election officials reported light turnout Tuesday morning, including in the deeply conservative northwest region where Trump held a rally Monday night to encourage GOP voters to turn out in force. Wait times at polling sites were "almost nonexistent," averaging about one minute statewide, said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
More than 3 million Georgians had voted early, either by mail or during in-person voting in December. The robust early turnout was expected to benefit Democrats, as it helped Biden in November become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Georgia since 1992.
"This is history unfolding in Georgia right now," Jon Ossoff, one of Georgia's two Democratic challengers, told reporters outside an Atlanta polling site.
Republicans were counting on a big turnout Tuesday to boost their chances.
"You've got to swarm it tomorrow," Trump told thousands of cheering supporters Monday night, downplaying the threat of fraud even as he repeatedly declared that the state's November elections were plagued by cheating that Republican officials, including his former attorney general and Georgia's elections chief, say did not occur.
Democrats must win both of the state's Senate elections to gain the Senate majority. In that scenario, the Senate would be equally divided 50-50 with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaker for Democrats.
The Democrats secured a narrow House majority and the White House during November's general election.
Georgia's January elections, necessary because no Senate candidates received a majority of the general-election votes, have been unique for many reasons, not least because the contenders essentially ran as teams.
One contest featured Democrat Raphael Warnock, who serves as the senior pastor of the Atlanta church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached. The 51-year-old Warnock was raised in public housing and spent most of his adult life preaching in Baptist churches.
Warnock was facing Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a 50-year-old former businesswoman who was appointed to the Senate a year ago by the state's Republican governor. She is only the second woman to represent Georgia in the Senate, although race has emerged as more of a campaign focus. Loeffler and her allies have seized on snippets of Warnock's sermons at the historic Black church to cast him as extreme. Dozens of religious and civil rights leaders have pushed back.
The other election pitted 71-year-old former business executive David Perdue, who held the Senate seat until his term officially expired on Sunday, against Democrat Ossoff, a former congressional aide and journalist. At just 33 years old, Ossoff would be the Senate's youngest member if elected. He first rose to national prominence in 2017 during an unsuccessful House special election bid.
Even a closely divided Democratic Senate wouldn't guarantee Biden everything he wants, given chamber rules that require 60 votes to move most major legislation. But if Democrats lose even one of Tuesday's contests, Biden would have little shot for swift up-or-down votes on his most ambitious plans to expand government-backed health care coverage, address racial inequality and combat climate change. A Republican-controlled Senate also would create a rougher path for Biden's Cabinet picks and judicial nominees.
"Georgia, the whole nation is...
Republicans are unified against Biden's plans for health care, environmental protection and civil rights, but some have feared that outgoing President Donald Trump's brazen attempts to undermine the integrity of the nation's voting systems might discourage voters in Georgia.
State election officials reported light turnout Tuesday morning, including in the deeply conservative northwest region where Trump held a rally Monday night to encourage GOP voters to turn out in force. Wait times at polling sites were "almost nonexistent," averaging about one minute statewide, said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
More than 3 million Georgians had voted early, either by mail or during in-person voting in December. The robust early turnout was expected to benefit Democrats, as it helped Biden in November become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Georgia since 1992.
"This is history unfolding in Georgia right now," Jon Ossoff, one of Georgia's two Democratic challengers, told reporters outside an Atlanta polling site.
Republicans were counting on a big turnout Tuesday to boost their chances.
"You've got to swarm it tomorrow," Trump told thousands of cheering supporters Monday night, downplaying the threat of fraud even as he repeatedly declared that the state's November elections were plagued by cheating that Republican officials, including his former attorney general and Georgia's elections chief, say did not occur.
Democrats must win both of the state's Senate elections to gain the Senate majority. In that scenario, the Senate would be equally divided 50-50 with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaker for Democrats.
The Democrats secured a narrow House majority and the White House during November's general election.
Georgia's January elections, necessary because no Senate candidates received a majority of the general-election votes, have been unique for many reasons, not least because the contenders essentially ran as teams.
One contest featured Democrat Raphael Warnock, who serves as the senior pastor of the Atlanta church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached. The 51-year-old Warnock was raised in public housing and spent most of his adult life preaching in Baptist churches.
Warnock was facing Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a 50-year-old former businesswoman who was appointed to the Senate a year ago by the state's Republican governor. She is only the second woman to represent Georgia in the Senate, although race has emerged as more of a campaign focus. Loeffler and her allies have seized on snippets of Warnock's sermons at the historic Black church to cast him as extreme. Dozens of religious and civil rights leaders have pushed back.
The other election pitted 71-year-old former business executive David Perdue, who held the Senate seat until his term officially expired on Sunday, against Democrat Ossoff, a former congressional aide and journalist. At just 33 years old, Ossoff would be the Senate's youngest member if elected. He first rose to national prominence in 2017 during an unsuccessful House special election bid.
Even a closely divided Democratic Senate wouldn't guarantee Biden everything he wants, given chamber rules that require 60 votes to move most major legislation. But if Democrats lose even one of Tuesday's contests, Biden would have little shot for swift up-or-down votes on his most ambitious plans to expand government-backed health care coverage, address racial inequality and combat climate change. A Republican-controlled Senate also would create a rougher path for Biden's Cabinet picks and judicial nominees.
"Georgia, the whole nation is...
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