Both the Senate seats for which elections will be held on Tuesday are currently held by the Republicans.
The two runoff elections taking place in the southern US state of Georgia on Tuesday will determine whether the Democrats or Republicans will control power in the US Senate. Though the results of US presidential election has long been decided, the still-open races in Georgia is crucial as the results will determine the balance of power in the Senate.
The fight is tough and no one is in a mood to let go. At a drive-in rally in Atlanta Monday, Joe Biden said voters in Georgia will "chart the course, not just for the next four years, but for the next generation". On the other hand, US President Donald Trump also told people in Dalton, "you just can't let them (Democrats) steal the US Senate".
Both the Senate seats for which elections will be held on Tuesday are currently held by Republicans. For both seats in the elections held on November 3, no candidate from either party was able to win more than half the votes.
In Georgia, Republican Senator David Perdue is running against Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, while Democrat Raphael Warnock is challenging Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler. During the November election, Loeffler had won 25.9% of the votes while Warnock received 32.9%. Perdue won 49.7% of the votes, while Ossoff secured 48%.
Why runoff elections in Georgia
- Georgia is among 10 US states where a candidate must get at least 50% of the votes to win.
- In other states, the winner of an election is the candidate who receives the most number of votes, even if it is less than a majority.
- In Georgia, unless a candidate meets this threshold, the race is decided by a run-off election.
- A run-off election is essentially a rematch between candidates, which is held in case no contender is able to reach the 50% majority criteria.
- Two candidates polling highest votes then face off again in a runoff election to determine the winner in case of an uncleared majority.
Georgia population data
- Georgia's population has around 52% non-Latino Whites and 32% Blacks, according to 2019 census data.
- Data from the Pew Research Center has noted that Black residents made up nearly half of the 1.9 million increase in Georgia's voting population since 2000.
- In 2019, 2.5 million Black voters made up a third of the total Georgia electorate.
- The Biden-Harris win in the state, during the 2020 US election, was the first time in 30 years that Georgia went to a Democratic presidential candidate.
Importance of Georgia win
- Republicans hold 50 of the 100 seats in the US Senate, while the Democrats have 48, including two independents, Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who lean Democratic.
- If the Democrats win these two seats, the Senate will see a 50-50 tie, where the deciding vote will be cast by the Vice President, the Democrat Kamala Harris.
- The Senate majority is crucial for Joe Biden's government, which could otherwise see its key appointments, policy decisions and attempts to fulfil campaign promises blocked or influenced by Republicans.
Why Senate is important
- While any legislation has to pass both the House and Senate, the latter is the more prestigious one.
- The US Constitution gives the Senate power to approve presidential nominations, including Supreme Court justices.
- The Senate has the sole power to conduct impeachment trials while serving as the jury, as was seen in the case of former president Bill Clinton who was acquitted in 1999, and President Trump last year.
- The Senate also holds investigative hearings - the most famous being the one into the Watergate scandal in the 1970s that ended Richard Nixon's presidency.
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