On Jan. 5, 2021, Georgians voted to decide the winners of the runoff election. In Georgia, a runoff election is held when none of the candidates receive 50% of the vote. On Nov. 3, none of the four candidates — Republican incumbent senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler and opposing Democrats Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock — managed to receive the majority of the vote.
On Jan. 6, both CNN and AP News called the runoff election. Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock defeated incumbent senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in a state that, until 2020, had not nominated a Democratic president since 1992. With this win, the Democrats have the Senate majority. Once inaugurated, the Senate will be evenly split, with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans. However, if necessary, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will serve as a tie-breaker to shift the vote in favor of the Democrats.
The election of Ossoff and Reverend Warnock is historic. Ossoff will be Georgia’s first Jewish senator, and at 33 years old will also become the Senate’s youngest member. Reverend Warnock’s election is also historic, as he will be Georgia’s first African American senator.
These election results secure Democrats’ control of the White House, the U.S. House and now the Senate, meaning President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda will be far easier to achieve
By Elinor Shelp-Peck, Co-Editor in Chief