Democratic Lead In Georgia For Control Of US Senate

UPDATE:  The Democratic lead in Georgia has become a Democratic WIN in Georgia, with Jon Ossoff officially defeating incumbent Sen. David Perdue.  The dual wins by Jon Ossoff and Rafael Warnock mean the Democrats will now control all branches of government: The White House, the House of Representatives, and the US Senate.

The Georgia special election is done and the electorate has spoken. As of this writing, a Democratic lead in Georgia appears insurmountable and Democrats are poised to control the US Senate.

Politics
The dual contests between Republican incumbent Sen. David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, as well as Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democratic challenger Rafael Warnock, came down to the wire. Early voting in the state was key with a record 3 million Georgians opting to skip election day in favor of casting their ballot early. However, at one point in the evening, the Democratic lead in Georgia appeared so strong that Rev. Raphael Warnock delivered a victory speech (via the internet). He has since been confirmed the winner and will become the historical first African-American from the State of Georgia ever elected to the US Senate.

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From Buzzfeed:

Rev. Raphael Warnock, the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, defeated Georgia Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in a historic runoff election in a state that has been a conservative stronghold for decades. Decision Desk HQ projected Warnock as the race’s winner just after 11 E.T. on Tuesday night.

Warnock is the first Black person elected to represent Georgia in the Senate and will be only one of three Black people in the Senate once his term begins. His victory is a testament to the decades-long political organizing of Black women in Georgia, coming just two months after President-elect Joe Biden beat Trump in the state — the first Democrat to win a presidential race there since 1992.

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Interestingly, Ossoff is set to become the first Jewish-American from Georgia elected to the US Senate.

As of 3am on election night, the preliminary vote totals were as follows:

RAPHAEL WARNOCK 50.4% (ahead by 45,575 votes)
SEN. KELLY LOEFFLER 49.6

JON OSSOFF 50.1% (ahead by 12,806 votes)
SEN. DAVID PERDUE 49.9%

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Absentee ballots as well as votes from our men and women serving overseas in the US military still have yet to be counted. At least 17,000 expected military ballots have until Friday to arrive and will be counted by next week.

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The Warnock and Ossoff victories were presumed once the only outstanding votes left to be counted were in heavily Democratic/African-American counties in and around, Atlanta, Augusta, and Columbus. The stellar work of king-maker Stacey Abrams was also widely deemed invaluable in turning the once red (Republican) state to purple.

With the traditionally red state of Georgia going blue last November and again this January, it looks as if Sen. Chuck Schumer will soon become Senate Majority Leader.  So long, Mitch McConnell.

OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
Democratic lead in Georgia runoff election.