Georgia’s Senate second-round elections for two seats have already had more than 2.56 million voters, breaking the previous record for voters in a second round in the state.
The crucial elections will decide control of the US Senate. High-level politicians are expected to face Georgia on behalf of their party’s candidates before the election. President Donald Trump is due to attend a campaign event in Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday for Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. On the same day, President-elect Joe Biden is due to attend Atlanta at a rally for Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock.
According to the US Election Project, the first voters gave 2,566,332 ballots in the Senate election on December 30. The previous record of votes for a second round in the Senate election in Georgia was 2,137,956 ballots, set in the 2008 election between Republican Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin.
Biden already visited Georgia on behalf of Ossoff and Warnock in December, telling a crowd at a campaign event that it was critical for Democrats to be elected. “We can do a lot,” said Biden, “so much that it can make the lives of the people of Georgia and the whole country so much better. And we need senators who are willing to do that, for God’s sake.”
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Both Ossoff and Warnock need to win the January Democratic elections to gain control of the Senate. A Democratic sweep in Georgia would divide the Senate equally between Republicans and Democrats. The vice-president-elect, Kamala Harris, would then give the casting vote. Republicans need only win a Senate seat to maintain a majority in the Senate.
Trump criticized Georgia’s electoral process, arguing without foundation that widespread electoral fraud helped Biden win the state. Appearing on behalf of Loeffler and Perdue at a rally in December, Trump warned participants that Democrats were also trying to rig the Senate election.
“And now [Democrats are] trying to steal these two important Georgia Senate seats, “said Trump.” These chairs are the last line of defense to save the United States and protect everything we have achieved. And we have achieved things that no other president has achieved, no other government. “
FiveThirtyEight poll averages indicate that Tuesday’s election could be difficult.
As of December 30, Ossoff was one point ahead of Perdue. Ossoff obtained 48.5% of the support, against 47.5% of the holder. The difference was greater in the race between Warnock and Loeffler. The Republican had 47.3 percent in average polls, but Warnock was ahead of Loeffler by 1.9 percent.
Loeffler tried to paint Warnock as a “radical” and warned voters that both Warnock and Ossoff could imbue the US Senate with socialist ideologies.
“If we don’t hold the line here in Georgia,” Loeffler told Fox News on Tuesday, “we won’t just lose two seats in the Senate. We could lose the country to socialism.”
Newsweek contacted the Georgia GOP and the Democratic Party of Georgia for comment.