It is just over a week before Georgia’s unprecedented run-off polls and polls in Georgia show a close race between current Republican Kelly Loeffler and her Democratic opponent Raphael Warnock.
More than 2 million residents have already voted in the second round, according to the Georgia Votes early voting data tracker. The January 5 disputes – Loeffler against Warnock and David Perdue against Jon Ossoff – will determine which party will have majority control of the US Senate at the next Congress.
A FiveThirtyEight analysis averaging the polls conducted since the November general election, Warnock was shown ahead of Loeffler by 0.6 points on December 24th. The Democrat had 48.2 percent support compared to Loeffler’s 47.6 percent support.
A survey by InsiderAdvantage and FOX 5 Atlanta released on Wednesday revealed that Loeffler was behind Warnock by 2 percentage points, although 4 percent of respondents said they remain undecided about who to support.
Warnock was also a little ahead in a survey conducted by Reconnect Research in partnership with Probolsky Research. The poll of more than 1,000 likely voters found that Warnock had 43% support. Loeffler was not far behind with 42% support. But 15% of respondents were undecided about the race.
After the November election, Republicans are expected to control at least 50 seats in the next Senate. Democrats will have 46 seats, but two independent senators agree with the party, bringing its total voting power to 48.
If Democrats win both Senate contests next month, the party’s control of the Senate will be split by 50/50. It would then be up to the Democratic vice president-elect, Kamala Harris, to cast any tiebreakers that occurred, essentially giving the Democrats control.
In November, Warnock surpassed Loeffler by just over 343,000 votes, but none of the candidates exceeded the 50% threshold required to win. Warnock received 32.9% of the vote compared to Loeffler’s 25.9%.
Tami Chappell / AFP / Getty images
The great risks of the second round led high-profile party figures to defend their respective candidates in the state of Peach. Vice President Mike Pence held several “Defend the Majority” rallies urging Republicans to vote, saying Perdue and Loeffler are the “last line of defense” against the Democrats’ “radical agenda”.
President-elect Joe Biden and vice-president-elect Kamala Harris held events in the state this month. The two were the first Democratic candidates to win Georgia since 1992, turning the state blue after supporting President Donald Trump in 2016.
“I’m here to say that the decision you make, the work you do, will impact people you may never meet, people who may never know your names. But because of what you have done and are prepared to do, your lives will be forever better, “Harris said at a drive-in rally in Columbus last week.