Both of the Senate by-elections in Georgia were too close to call, according to NBC News, as polls closed Tuesday night.
The races will determine which party controls the Senate for the next two years. Democrats strive for uniform control over Congress and the White House. Republicans want a check against President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda.
In one contest, 71-year-old Republican David Perdue takes on 33-year-old Democrat Jon Ossoff, who runs a documentary production company. Perdue is aiming for a second term in the Senate after ending her first Sunday.
The other special election pits 50-year-old Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler against 51-year-old Democrat Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Pastor Martin Luther King jr. Preached. The seat, opened after former GOP senator Johnny Isakson retired early, will be re-elected in 2022.
Both elections came to a close after no candidate received more than 50% of the votes in the general election.
Provinces have started reporting results, with some small provinces’ reports already completed. Cobb County in the Atlanta metro area has said it will not complete the results tonight and will resume voting again Wednesday at 1 p.m.
A sign is seen as voters starting for the U.S. Senate on January 5, 2021 in the polling station in Marietta, Georgia, USA.
Mike Segar | Reuters
Biden won Georgia by 11,779 votes in November. NBC News only announced his victory over President Donald Trump in Peach State three days after election day, as officials gathered to vote for the entry.
More than 3 million Georgians cast their ballots before Tuesday, marking a historically high turnout for a by-election in the state. Data for the run-up to the election and the history of voters indicate that the Democrats had an advantage in the early turnout. Republicans were hoping for a strong performance on Tuesday.
According to Georgia’s Secretary of State, the average waiting time at polling stations hovered about one minute nationwide until Tuesday. Top Republican election official Gabriel Sterling told a news conference Tuesday afternoon that election day could range from about 600,000 to 1.1 million voters. Exact numbers are difficult to predict before counting ballots.
Several districts closed later than 7 p.m. ET due to delays earlier in the day. According to the Georgian Democratic Party, the latest polling station was in Lowndes County, which closed at 8 p.m. Voters who were in the queue before the polls closed closed were legally allowed to vote.
The two runoffs in Georgia are the two most expensive Senate contests ever, according to data compiled by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.
If even one of the Republicans wins, the GOP will retain Senate control. Democrats need to sweep both races to achieve a 50-50 split in the House. Elected Vice President Kamala Harris will then hold a tie-breaking vote.
The election results will form the first two years of Biden’s agenda. If Republicans retain the Senate, they will push for a smaller coronavirus relief package than Democrats hope for in the coming months. During a rally on Monday, candidates from Biden and the Democratic Senate stressed that victories in Georgia could help them pay direct aid of $ 2,000 – a plan that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Opposes on his own.
A Democratic Senate will also give Biden a better chance of succeeding in his economic recovery agenda and reaffirming his elected cabinet nominees and judges. Confirmation requires only a majority, while most legislation requires 60 votes to pass.
During the run-off, Perdue and Loeffler appealed to Trump’s loyal supporters, in part by backing the outgoing president’s unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud. Trump threatened Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger just days before the election during a climactic event over a phone call to find votes that would overthrow Biden’s victory in Georgia.
Loeffler said in a statement Monday that she would oppose the College of Election results on Wednesday. The maneuver is expected to fail.
Some GOP strategists were concerned that Trump’s continued attacks on the integrity of Georgia’s election Tuesday could discourage Republicans from voting.
This story unfolds. Check back for updates.
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