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The hitherto Republican southern state of Georgia is now harboring a battle for control of the Senate. The fight here is crucial in determining how much power President-elect Joe Biden will gain.
So far, Democrats have not achieved a majority in the Senate. They only hold 48 seats out of 100 in the Senate.
With Vice President Kamala Harris as Speaker of the Senate, who may break the tie, it only takes two Democratic senators to get a majority.
Omkamp
Georgia could be the Democrats’ salvation. The state recently held two senatorial elections. But because a candidate must have a clear majority to win, and neither of them got it, there will be a new round between the two that got the most votes.
Current Republican Senator David Perdue received 49.8 percent of the vote and is therefore due to meet with Democrat Jon Ossoff for a new round on January 5.
On the same day, Senator Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock will meet. Neither of them won a majority in the by-elections held after Loeffler was appointed to replace a senator who resigned.
Georgia Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are running for office. On January 5, the state will decide whether the two will be replaced by democratic candidates or not.
Photo: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Fighting for power
Both parties are pushing hard for reelection in Georgia to be about who will get power in Washington.
– First we take Georgia, then we change the world, says Chuck Schumer. He will take over as leader of the Senate after Mitch McConnell, if Democrats win a majority in the Senate.
The wording is roughly the same from the opposite side:
– If we win these two elections, we will save the Senate. If we save the Senate, we save the country, that’s what the fight is all about, Georgia Sen. Perdue tweeted.
Democrat Jon Ossoff is fighting Republican David Perdue to be elected to the Senate as a representative from the state of Georgia.
Photo: John Amis / AP
However, it is uncertain whether he will receive any help from Trump, says Minerva commentator and American expert Jan Arild Snoen:
– It is not clear how Trump views his political role when he finally realizes that he has lost the presidential election.
Maybe he wants revenge by continuing as party leader, maybe the party no longer wants him as leader, or maybe he’s tired of it all. Only in a week or two will it be easier to answer this, according to Snoen.
Democratically trends
Georgia has been a solid Republican for at least a generation. It’s a steep hill for Democrats to get a senator from there. At the same time, Georgia has been following a budding democratic direction for some years.
Democrats have a chance in Georgia, Snoen believes.
Minerva Commentator and American Expert Jan Arild Snoen
Photo: Storhaug / Silinger / NRK
– Yes, since Joe Biden seems to win the state by a narrow margin, it is about mobilizing the same majority. But much of the motivation may disappear when Trump is out of action.
One thing that can play against Republicans is if they join the Trump campaign to undermine the outcome of the presidential election, Snoen believes.
Senate Power
It will be a newly elected president-elect who takes power in the country, if the two Democratic candidates do not win in Georgia. The Senate can stop, slow down, or dilute Biden’s political program.
In that case, he, like Obama and Trump, will try to bypass Congress with the help of presidential orders and the like. But there are limits to the amount of power this gives you.
But somehow, a Republican majority in the Senate can serve Biden, Snoen believes:
– Actually, it fits with Biden’s message of reconciliation, compromise and cooperation across party lines if you really have to seek cooperation. In this way, it can also prevent Democrats from going so far to the left that voters punish them in the 2022 by-elections and the upcoming presidential elections.
Pastor Raphael Warnock is the second Democratic candidate to run for reelection as a senator from Georgia. Here he speaks at an election campaign event in Atlanta.
Photo: Pool / Reuters
