BY NIKHILA NATARAJAN
For 20 years, reliably Republican Georgia never elected a Democratic Senator. And suddenly, in the winter of 2020, the state’s political math is all the rage in Washington DC.
So far, the tally in the 100-member Senate is a dead heat. Republicans and Democrats have 48 seats each. If Democrats get 50 seats, they will effectively have control because the Vice President has the tie-breaking vote. That VP will be Kamala Harris in 2021. Republicans absolutely need 51 seats to retain control.
With a Democratic majority in the Senate, Biden will have real power in Washington to push a bold legislative agenda. The Democrats already control the House of Representatives, although with a slimmer majority than earlier.
During Donald Trump’s lame duck days in the White House, a high stakes Senate battle in Georgia will decide the power balance for a Biden administration.
Two seats in Georgia are proceeding to runoffs on January 5 because no candidate reached the 50 per cent mark needed to win multi-candidate races. North Carolina is in the thick of a tight race and Alaska is too early to call.
“Now we take Georgia, and then we change America,” is the battle cry of the Democrats, buoyed by Biden’s victory. For the other side, the “Senate is the last line of defence”.
Both Senate seats in Georgia are held by Republicans. The post election autopsy is already showing that incumbents may not get the same enthusiasm from voters now that Trump is onto his lame duck.
“I can’t tell you how important it is that we flip the United States Senate. There’s no state more consequential than Georgia in that fight,” Biden said during the campaign.
It’s all on the line here.
