Georgia’s Democratic Senate candidates, Raphael Warnock (R) and Jon Ossoff (L), clash with their elbows during a drive-in “It’s time to vote” rally on December 28, 2020 in Stonecrest, Georgia.
Jessica McGowan | Getty Images
More than 3 million Georgia residents have already voted in the two January 5 races, a historic participation in a race that determines whether Democrats or Republicans control the United States Senate this year.
Tuesday’s disputes are between Republican Senator David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff, as well as Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler and Democratic Reverend Raphael Warnock.
If Perdue and Loeffler won their contests, Republicans would have a 52-seat majority in the Senate, allowing them to block part of President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda.
The Democratic caucus would have 50 seats if Ossoff and Warnock won. And a tie vote for Vice President-elect Harris would give Democrats control of the Senate after six years of Republican majority.
Democrats currently control the House of Representatives and will continue to do so until 2021. Republicans have a small majority in the Senate.
President Donald Trump, who has unreasonably claimed that the two Georgia Senate contests were invalid, is expected to hold a state rally by Perdue and Loeffler on Monday.
Biden is scheduled to go to Atlanta on Monday, while Harris will visit Savannah on Sunday to support Ossoff and Warnock. Democratic candidates broke fundraising records during their campaigns, each raising more than $ 100 million in recent months, driven mainly by small donations.
Ivanka Trump and Senators Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA) wave to the crowd at a campaign event on December 21, 2020 in Milton, Georgia.
Elijah Nouvelage | Getty Images
Perdue and Loeffler, the president’s strong allies, supported stimulus payments of $ 600 as part of a broader aid package and attacked Democratic opponents for arguing that those payments were not enough. However, they reversed the course and broke with many Senate Republicans to support Trump’s demands for $ 2,000 stimulus checks after Congress passed the bill.
Ossoff and Warnock closely aligned themselves with Biden’s plan to provide more relief from coronavirus and direct checks to Americans. They condemned their opponents for the way they handled the pandemic and insisted that Republican senators did not do enough to push for a vote on higher stimulus checks in the Senate.
The 3,002,100 initial votes represent 38.8% of all registered voters in Georgia, according to data collected by the University of Florida’s US Elections Project. The initial vote exceeds the previous record of total turnout for about 2.1 million votes cast in the second round of the Senate in 2008 between Republican Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin.
The data shows that Democrats have an advantage in attending polls in Georgia. Early voting ended on Thursday. Republicans generally see a higher turnout on election day. Electoral participation has declined in conservative and rural parliamentary districts in Georgia, specifically in the northwestern part of the state where Trump will campaign on Monday, according to local reports.
Republicans have accelerated their efforts to get votes. Days before the runoff, Perdue started quarantining after contacting someone who tested positive for Covid-19. Perdue told Fox News on Saturday that he will not be at the president’s rally on Monday due to his quarantine.