By Lydia Wilcox (Reporter ‘21)
The Georgia US Senate election results have been called; Democrats John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have won their races, victorious over their incumbent Republican competitors, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. With Vice President-elect Kamala Harris presiding as president of the Senate, Ossoff and Warnock’s win in Georgia have given Democrats the Senate majority. This is because the position of new Vice President Harris, as president of the US Senate, gives her the power to vote in favor of the Democrats if a tie occurs. As a result of Ossoff and Warnock’s wins in Georgia, the Democrats now have control of the presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.
This Georgia Senate race is historically significant. A Democratic senator has not been elected in Georgia in 25 years. Earlier in November, no candidate received over 50% of the vote, which automatically prompted a runoff election in Georgia. The results of the Senate elections were anxiously awaited after Georgia, a previously Republican and key electoral college state in the presidential race, flipped to be Democratic and granted President-Elect Joe Biden another electoral college win.
There was a widespread effort for years by Democrats to turn Georgia from a red state to a blue state in the 2020 elections. Georgia’s flip to vote blue can be largely attributed to 2018 Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Stacey Abrams, who worked to fight against voter suppression in Georgia and to encourage voter turnout in the 2020 elections. In addition to Abram’s efforts, many organizations also helped to turn Georgia blue by registering new voters.
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