Georgia voters will shape Biden’s policy plans, the odds of tax reform and the balance of progressives and moderates in the Cabinet.
With weeks until two critical Senate runoff elections in Georgia, both races appear centered on accusations of improper equity trading and President Donald Trump’s mixed messaging about the integrity of the state’s ballots. The contests pit two Republican incumbents — David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler — against two Democratic challengers, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. At stake are not only two Senate seats long held by the GOP, but party control of the upper house of the U.S. Congress. In a real sense, Georgia voters will singlehandedly decide on the course of congressional policy for 2021. On the ballot will be the size of President-elect Joe Biden’s «Build Back Better» economic plan, the odds of meaningful tax reform, the balance of progressives and moderates in the Cabinet and the composition of federal courts throughout the country. It’s «impossible to overstate the importance» of the Georgia runoff election, Cowen analyst Chris Krueger wrote Thursday morning. «The fate of 2021 federal policy will be decided by two Georgia Senate elections — full stop,» he added. «Dems have to win both to take the Senate majority. This is close to a jump ball in our mind.» Both runoff elections are scheduled for Jan.5; polls will close at 7 p.m. ET. Leading up to the runoffs, Republicans have secured 50 Senate seats and Democrats have 48, including two independent senators who caucus with Democrats. In other words, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell needs to hold on to just one Georgia seat to cement a majority in the chamber, whereas Democrats need to win both for a 50-50 split. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would be the tiebreaker in Senate votes that resulted in ties. Georgia has for much of the last 30 years been viewed as a Republican stronghold, dominated by GOP politicians at both the state and federal levels. So when Georgia officials last month certified that Joe Biden had become the first Democrat to carry the state in a presidential election since 1992, it sent political shockwaves across the nation and ensured that control of the U.
