ATLANTA (AP) – Ballots are still being counted in the second round of Georgia that will determine control of the United States Senate and the scope of President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda. Tuesday’s vote also offers the first clues as to the direction of American politics after Donald Trump’s turbulent presidency.
Republicans David Perdue and Senator Kelly Loeffler are trying to avoid tough challenges from their respective Democratic opponents, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, in a dispute in which half a billion dollars was spent to define the outcome.
Here are some starting points: GEORGIA SHOWING BATTLEGROUND BONA FIDES
When President-elect Joe Biden beat Georgia by 12,000 votes out of 5 million, many observers assumed it was a Trump reaction.
While that was undoubtedly true, a Democratic presidential candidate does not get nearly 2.5 million votes and then sees Democratic Senate candidates accompany him with more than 2 million votes each in a reduced two-month runoff. afterwards, unless there is a legitimate infrastructure of the party good campaigns and a large number of voters to be harnessed. Georgia has proved its status as a two-party battleground in the future.
FALSE TRUMP CLAIMS FIND FAVORS WITH GOP ELECTORS
Trump may have lost the presidency, but his campaign to undermine the legitimacy of the election has clearly been successful with Republican voters in Georgia.
About three-quarters of voters who supported Perdue and Loeffler told the AP VoteCast poll that Biden was not legitimately elected in November. AP VoteCast interviewed more than 3,600 voters to measure voter views on a variety of topics.
Approximately 9 out of 10 Republican supporters said they were not confident that the votes in the November presidential race were accurately counted. Half said they had no confidence in the vote count. This is almost five times as many Republicans who said in November they were not confident that votes would be counted accurately.
That sentiment clearly traces Trump’s false rhetoric about electoral fraud, a claim that has been rejected by Attorney General William Barr, dozens of federal courts and several prominent Republican senators. And the findings clearly demonstrate Trump’s continued control of the Republican base, something his fellow Republican politicians will face even after he leaves office.
TRUMP IS STILL A SHIFT DRIVER – FOR BOTH SIDES
Even with risks, Perdue, who is trying to win a second term after her first expired on Sunday, and Loeffler, a nominated senator trying to win her first election, tied herself to Trump at every stage of the campaign.
Initial returns and participation projections show why.
Democrats were stronger in the initial polls than in November, and that made Republicans nervous. These concerns followed weeks of Trump’s criticism that Biden stole the election, fueling the Republican Party’s fear that he would lead some of his supporters to skip the second round of protest, while repelling moderate and biased independents. Republican Party in urban and suburban areas.
The Republican Party strategists felt a little better on Tuesday, as they watched attendance in conservative counties, where early voting had slowed considerably. Republicans also reported solid participation in the outer ring of the Atlanta metropolitan area, counties where Republicans still have a large number of votes.
But, as in the Trump era, Democratic participation also seems to remain strong. Officials in Fulton County, the most populous in the state and home to Atlanta, said attendance on Election Day exceeded that of November. Participation among black voters, whose tendency is predominantly Democratic, was particularly strong across the state. This represents a steep climb for Republicans.
RELATIVELY SOFT UNTIL NOW
Even with Trump’s constant drumming of falsehoods about the voting process, state election officials and officials from both parties said Tuesday’s vote and counting seemed uneventful.
Some districts had extended hours, but there were no reports of hour-long queues or districts that ran out of provisional paper ballots. Election officials have also taken advantage of changes to the rules since November, which allowed for the early processing of absentee ballots – so they could be counted more quickly.
This does not mean that the count will not last until Wednesday or after, but for now, the Georgian authorities appear to be managing the process without major problems.
KEMP FACES TROUBLE
Trump endorsed Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp during a Republican primary controversy in 2018, only to call him “incompetent” and promise to campaign against him in 2022 because he did not meet Trump’s demands to reverse presidential election results of Georgia.
According to AP VoteCast, Republican voters are on Trump’s side.
About 6 out of 10 Republican voters approve of the way Kemp handled the consequences of the election. In November, AP VoteCast found about 9 out of 10 Trump supporters who passed Kemp’s overall job performance.
Kemp was already facing the prospect of a strong challenge in the general election of Democrat Stacey Abrams, who is expected to seek a rematch after his defeat in 2018. She would enter the race with a boost from all the electoral registration work that paid off with the victory. of Biden and competitive disputes in the Senate. But for Kemp, it now appears that he needs to consolidate his position in his own party before thinking of a general election.
DEMOCRATS HIGH-TOUCH GROUND GAME
Democrats appear to have had a wider reach than Republicans in contact with voters. About 6 out of 10 voters say they were contacted on behalf of Democratic candidates, compared with about half of Republican candidates.
The Democrats’ ground game may have helped to train voters. Overall, about 4 out of 10 said they were contacted and responded with a promise or commitment to vote. These voters were more likely to favor Ossoff and Warnock than Perdue and Loeffler.
NEW RESIDENTS CHANGING POLICY
AP VoteCast showed signs that newcomers to Georgia were more Democratic than longtime residents of the state. Those who lived in the state for more than 20 years leaned toward Republicans, while those who moved more recently preferred Democrats.
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Associated Press reporters Josh Boak and Hannah Fingerhut in Washington and Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed.