Georgia’s Senate candidates have only a few days to influence the remaining registered voters who have not yet voted before the election and polls show that none of the candidates has a strong enough lead to indicate what the race will look like.
Senator David Perdue won more votes than Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff in November, but his failure to break the 50 percent threshold forced the election to run for a second round. If Perdue loses his candidacy for re-election, Democrats will be one chair closer to taking control of the Senate.
The most recent survey, released on Wednesday by JMC Analytics, gave Ossoff a seven-point lead over Perdue. This gap remains consistent when we ask undecided voters who they would like to support. Looking only at the 7% of undecided voters, Ossoff received 53% support and Perdue 45%.
Another poll, released on Dec. 27 by the Trafalgar Group, found that Ossoff was in the lead with 50.4 percent, compared with Perdue’s 47.7 percent. It is almost identical to the margin that the Trafalgar Group identified in a survey conducted a week earlier, except that, at that point, the survey was going in Perdue’s favor.
Brandon Bell / Getty
More than 2.8 million people have already voted, equivalent to about 36% of registered voters, and turnout could exceed record numbers registered in November. Second-round elections rarely attract the attention that has been given to Georgia, but both parties have an interest in the winner.
If Perdue and Senator Kelly Loeffler, who is also in a second round, lose their seats, there will be a 50/50 split in the Senate. This effectively gives Democrats control of the chamber because, in the event of an impasse, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will cast the decisive vote, probably tipping the balance in favor of Democrats.
The second round of the election of Georgia will take place following the approval of another relief bill COVID-19. On Monday, President Donald Trump signed a spending package that included $ 900 billion for the relief of the pandemic, a focal point of the second round.
Ossoff, a staunch supporter of another round of $ 1,200 stimulus checks, repeatedly attacked Perdue for being against direct payment. On Tuesday, Ossoff told MSNBC that Perdue was supporting only $ 2,000 stimulus checks because of the next election.
“If he wanted to say that, he would be on the floor of the United States Senate demanding that Mitch McConnell present the House bill, a clean $ 2,000 authorization check, for a positive or negative vote,” said Ossoff.
Perdue voted in favor of the Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES), which included a round of stimulus checks, but said he personally opposed the provision. He also voted for the most recent stimulus package, which President Donald Trump signed on Monday.
Until Trump signed on, it was unclear whether he would support the package, which includes direct payments of $ 600, as he advocated increasing the amount to $ 2,000. On Tuesday, Perdue told Fox News that Trump had full support for the higher payments.
With about 60% of registered voters still not voting, Trump will make a final appeal for Perdue and Loeffler in Georgia on Monday, the day before the election. He and Vice President Mike Pence have made several trips to the state in recent weeks, along with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President Harris.