Jon Ossoff and Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock just won Georgia’s highly sought Senate seats by a razor-thin margin after a closely followed special election. On January 5, an election was held for the remaining two Senate seats and the Senate majority for each respective party. Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock challenged Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler for their seats in the Senate.
This Senate race was crucial for both Democrats and Republicans. Incumbents Loeffler and Perdue did not earn the required majority of votes in Georgia to secure their seats. In accordance with Georgia state laws, special elections were held to determine the winners of the two seats. Excluding the seats included in the special election, Democrats and the Independents who caucused with them occupied 48 seats, and Republicans occupied 50 seats before the special elections. Ossoff and Warnock’s wins created an equal split in the Senate. This means that if every senator votes their party, incoming Vice President Kamala Harris of the Democratic party would serve as tie-breaker. Assuming she votes with her party, she will give Democrats in the Senate the majority. Additionally, Democrats now occupy the executive branch and have a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, while Republicans have a majority only in the Supreme Court. This will make it more difficult for Republicans to block bills supported by Democrats in Congress. Because of this, Democrats were determined to win these seats, and Republicans seemed equally determined to prevent their seats from being taken.
This Senate race was a historic win for Democrats. Kelly Loeffler was one of President Trump’s greatest allies in the Senate, and herself boasts of her “100% Trump voting record” (apnews.com). Loeffler was under scrutiny last spring after making stock transactions, including stocks that were in a position to benefit from the pandemic, after attending a COVID-19 briefing. David Perdue, another close ally to the President, faced criticism after profiting off stocks of a company who he once served as a member of its board of directors. Perdue, like Loeffler, attended COVID-19 briefings that informed him about economic threats posed by the virus (nytimes.com). Ossoff and Warnock ran on progressive ideas such as reproductive rights, affordable health care, combating climate change, and criminal justice reform. Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock is now the first black senator from Georgia, and Jon Ossoff is Georgia’s first Jewish senator.
Like the 2020 presidential election, these special elections pulled record numbers of voters in support of both parties. According to Bloomberg, voter turnout in this special election was higher than any previous election in Georgia (bloomberg.com). Democrats can thank the dedicated efforts of Stacey Abrams, who has registered over 500,000 new voters in Georgia since 2014, for their growing support in the state (reuters.com). Ossoff earned almost 2.3 million votes, which is only 1.2% higher than the 2.2 million votes for Perdue. Warnock also received just under 2.3 million votes, and Loeffler received just under 2.2 million votes. In total, almost nine million votes were cast for all four of the candidates (politico.com).
Americans across the country are looking to newly elected Warnock and Ossoff to catalyze systemic change. We will have to wait until the end of January, when they are going to be sworn in, to see if they fulfill their promises to the people of Georgia and America at large.
