- Republican Senator David Perdue was forced to quarantine after contacting a person who had COVID-19, his campaign said.
- Perdue will have to step back in the heated race against Democrat Jon Ossoff, just days before the January 5 election.
- The result of the competition in Georgia, where Senator Kelly Loeffler will also face Democratic Reverend Raphael Warnock, who will decide which party controls the Senate.
- If Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock win, Democrats will control the legislative and executive branches, allowing Joe Biden to more easily fulfill his legislative goals.
- A recently released survey by JMC Analytics and Polling revealed Warnock and Ossoff leading on Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in the initial vote.
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Georgia Republican Senator David Perdue was forced to quarantine after being exposed to someone with COVID-19, his campaign said.
The senator will have to move away from the important electoral battle, just days from the election on Tuesday, January 5.
On behalf of the 71-year-old man, his campaign said, in a statement released on Thursday: “This morning, Senator Perdue was notified that he had close contact with someone in the campaign whose test was positive for COVID-19.
“Senator Perdue and his wife were negative today, but following their doctor’s recommendations and according to CDC guidelines, they will be quarantined. The senator and his wife were tested regularly during the campaign, and the team will continue to follow CDC guidelines. “
The announcement was made 30 minutes before Perdue spoke at a campaign event in Gainsville, alongside Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, CNN reported.
Perdue had been scheduled to attend a rally with President Trump and Senator Kelly Loeffler on Monday, according to the AP.
—Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) December 31, 2020
Battle for control of the Senate
The outcome of the dispute in Georgia, where Senator Loeffler will also face Democratic Reverend Raphael Warnock, will decide which party controls the Senate.
If Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock win, Democrats will control the legislative and executive branches, allowing Joe Biden to more easily fulfill his legislative goals.
On Wednesday, Insider reported that a recently released runoff poll found that Democratic candidates were expanding their leadership.
The JMC survey, conducted with 500 respondents on Monday and Tuesday, found Ossoff ahead of Perdue by 50% to 43%, or 7 points, with 7% of respondents saying they were undecided.
The divide between Warnock and Loeffler in the survey was even greater: Warnock was ahead 53% to 44%, or 9 points, with 3% of respondents saying they were undecided.
JMC is one of only a handful of researchers participating in the Senate’s second round – many of the most recognized and respected researchers have not conducted any polls since the November general election.
A recent survey conducted by SurveyUSA found Ossoff with an advantage of 5 percentage points and Warnock with an advantage of 7 points. And according to the FiveThirtyEight poll tracker, the margin of support has steadily increased for Democratic candidates in polls since the November 3 general election.
Nick Gourevitch, a Democratic researcher at the Global Strategy Group, recently told Politico that relying on the accuracy of polls in Georgia after the tumultuous presidential elections would be a mistake.