What Do The Georgia Senate Race Results Mean for America?
By: Phillip Seo
Ever since the 2020 U.S. election came to a close, the state of Georgia became the center of the political universe in America as the Senate runoff races between Raphael Warnock and Kelly Loeffler as well as Jon Ossoff and David Perdue would determine whether the Democrats or the Republicans would have control of the U.S. Senate. In addition, it would also determine whether Joe Biden could pass his agenda and policy ideas as legislation. After Joe Biden declared victory in the state of Georgia in the presidential election, the state became extremely competitive between the two major political parties. As a result, all four candidates had to run vigorous campaigns.
Senator Loeffler and Senator Perdue both tried to push the idea that Warnock and Ossoff were radical Democrats that would turn America into a socialist country. On the other hand, Warnock and Ossoff criticized Loeffler for associating herself with previous members of the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) and Perdue for secretly investing in stocks during the pandemic while undermining the seriousness of it simultaneously. Both sets of Senate campaigns became dirty as there were insults thrown between all four candidates and they also criticized each other about their ideologies and past actions.
On January 5th, Georgians went to the polls to vote for their preferred Senate candidates. After
after most of the ballots were counted, it was projected that both Warnock and Ossoff would be elected into the Senate, giving the Democrats a majority in the U.S. Senate as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris can cast a tie-breaking vote on major decisions such as passing legislation or confirming judges if it ends up being a 50-50 vote between Democrats and Republicans.
The victory for Democrats in Georgia is extremely significant as they now have control of all three chambers of government, excluding the Judicial Branch. This means that Democrats can now pass legislation, confirm judges, appoint cabinet nominees, and much more with the new power they have been granted through the people’s voices and votes. In addition, Joe Biden will have a much smoother process in carrying out his agenda such as the Green New Deal, cancelling student debt for students in public colleges, and raising the minimum wage just to name a few of his agenda plans. The victories were also significant as the Georgia Senate run-off elections have had the highest voter turnout in Georgian history with over 4 million votes counted.
Along with the results of the Georgia Senate elections making political history, the Senator-elects themselves have made history as well. Warnock will be the first Black American Senator to be elected from Georgia, giving hope to minorities that they can become involved in the political landscape as well; Ossoff will be the first Jewish American Senator to be elected from Georgia and the youngest Democratic Senator to be elected since Joe Biden when he was elected as a Senator.
Overall, the Senate elections in Georgia had extremely high stakes and consequences as the Democrats now have control of the Presidency and Congress, which will allow President-elect Biden to carry out his agenda and nominate judges and cabinet members. In addition, the Senate elections have now made Georgia an official battleground state and have also made history as the Peach State has elected its first Black and Jewish Senator. The results give hope that the political atmosphere in America will become more diverse and inclusive over time and that more people will participate actively in elections and politics as a whole which could lead to the development of more battleground states which could make election results closer and more interesting to observe.