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For the first time since January 2015, the majority of the Senate is in the hands of the Democrats. The party scored a stunning double victory in Second round of elections in Georgia, firmly turning the traditionally conservative state to blue after President-elect Joe Biden won in November.
With an elected vice-president Kamala harrisThe decisive vote in the Senate, Democrats now control both houses of Congress in addition to the presidency. This makes Biden’s first two years in the White House a lot less intimidating as he’ll face far fewer obstacles than he would a Mitch mcconnell– Senate with a republican majority led.
Before the November presidential election, Democrats were moderate favorites to regain control of the upper house. Disappointing results in countries like Maine, North Carolina and Iowa meant Democrats had to reclaim the two available Georgia Senate seats, both available due to a set of fortuitous circumstances: retirement in 2019 of Republican Senator Johnny Isakson and the inability of current David Perdue to secure 50% of the vote, which Georgia state law requires to declare a winner.
With the remainder of the Senate races and the presidential election ending in mid-November, Georgia has become the center of the US political universe for the remainder of 2020. A record the amount of fundraising paid into the state to support applicants. On the Republican side: Perdue and Senator Kelly Loeffler, a businesswoman appointed by Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to replace Isakson. The Democrats have introduced Jon Ossoff, a documentary film producer, and Rev. Raphael Warnock, a minister, as their respective challengers.
More than 3 million Georgians voted in the second round before polling day, eclipsing the previous 2008 record of 2.1 million total votes in the second round of the Georgia Senate. The participation of black voters in particular appeared to be relatively high, with a online vote tracking showing that 31% of the turnout was black voters. Eligible black voters in Georgia increased by 1.9 million from 2000 to 2019, accounting for almost half of the state’s electoral growth during this period.
On election night, in part two, broadcast networks called the race too close to call as batches of votes arrived from voting centers in person and mailed ballots. Democrats won both seats when the Associated Press called for the race for Ossoff on Wednesday afternoon.
Questions will be raised about President Trump’s role in the race. The president has been criticized for dividing the Republican Party over his refusal to accept the November election results. Some GOP lawmakers have also said that Trump’s insistence on a $ 2,000 stimulus check, despite Senate Republicans voting for $ 600 checks, made the party bad before the second round.
“When you tell people, your vote doesn’t count and has been stolen, and people start to believe it, then you go see the two senators and ask the secretary of state to step down and start a civil war in the Republican Party when we need to unite, it all stems from his decision-making since the November 3 election, ”Gabriel Sterling, a prominent GOP election official in Georgia, said Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Congress will meet to vote on the certification of the electoral college votes for Biden. A number of Republican Congressmen have pledged to vote against Biden’s certification, although that almost certainly won’t change Biden’s status as the winner.
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