How will the Georgia election results affect the Biden administration?
Today, the U.S. has all its attention pointed at Georgia once again. This time, the whole country awaits the Senate election results in a runoff after none of the parties had enough votes to win the general election in November.
These election results are crucial as they would define if the U.S. Senate will have a Democratic or Republican majority. If the Democrats get the two seats in the Senate, Kamala Harris will be able to tip the balance towards the Democrat side, further helping Joe Biden to move forward with his presidential plan.
Find out more about the runoff and its possible consequences as we wait for the election results in Georgia.
Everything to know about the candidates
Each party has two candidates running for a seat in the Senate. The Republican party has Kelly Loeffler & David Perdue, while the Democrats have Raphael Warnock & Jon Ossoff.
Kelly Loeffler was named by Georgia’s governor to complete the mandate of Johnny Isakson. She has explicitly stated that she’s willing to object to the Electoral College certification process unless there is a commission to audit the election results. She’s proudly claimed to be the most conservative member of the Senate. Loeffler & her husband have a net worth of over $800 million.
David Perdue’s Senate position just expired this weekend and he’s looking to get back into one of the seats. He recently joined Kelly Loeffler in a verbal attack towards Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger after the election results of the state tilted to favor Joe Biden. He’s also one of the richest members of the Senate with a net worth of over 15.8 million dollars.
Raphael Warnock is an African-American Democrat pastor who’s also looking to get a spot in the Senate. He’s been vocal about his interest in protecting black lives and has also supported the right to abortion. Warnock has publicly expressed his support for Israel.
Jon Ossoff has been criticized for recently moving outside his district and for raising a lot of money for his campaign – mostly from supporters outside of Georgia. Although he tied with Perdue in the last election, it’s still unclear if he will have the same support in his home state. Although he’s the youngest of all the candidates, his previous work in the Congress gives him the most experience out of the four.
Georgia’s past Senate elections
During Georgia’s previous Senate elections, the state was unable to decide who’s going to take the two remaining seats in the Senate. Back in November, it took ten days for the results of Georgia’s election to be known.
To win the elections, each candidate must amass over 50% of the state’s votes, even if they surpass the other candidate’s numbers. Last year, David Perdue got 49.7% of the votes in contrast with Jon Ossoff who got 47.9% of Georgia’s votes.
Although it’s possible that we see a second runoff, it seems pretty unlikely at this point. The election started at 7:00 A.M. today and so far, it’s had a big turnout. Millions of people have already voted in Georgia’s Senate election early.
What Georgia’s elections could mean for the country
Winning the presidency doesn’t guarantee that the candidate will be able to fulfill their political plan. Joe Biden’s plans in healthcare, civil rights, and the environment depend on the Senate’s support.
At the moment, the Republican party holds fifty seats of the Senate whereas the Democrats have forty-eight. If the Democrats win both of the seats at the Senate, Kamala Harris could untie votes as Vice President, which could potentially lead to the fulfillment of Joe Biden’s stated presidential goals.
