It appears both Republicans in Georgia have lost their U.S. Senate races on Tuesday, handing Democrats full control of the federal government in the Senate, House of Representatives, and the White House.
With 100% reporting in, Georgia Senator David Perdue (R) has presumably lost his re-election bid to newcomer and progressive Democrat Jon Ossoff. Ossoff holds a 50.19% or 16,000 vote lead over Perdue to win the 6 year term.
In the special election to fill an unexpired term, Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler who was appointed to the seat by the Georgia Governor looks to have lost to Raphael Warnock, the left-leaning Democrat pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. With 100% reporting, Warnock has topped Loeffler winning 50.61%. Over 54,000 votes separate the two.
These two wins coupled with the tie-breaking vote in the Senate by soon-to-be Vice President Kamala Harris give Democrats the majority in the upper chamber with a 50-50 split between the two parties.
What this development means for Mississippi is that senior Senator Roger Wicker will lose his chairmanship of the Senate Commerce Committee as Democrats assume the leadership across the board.
Democrats such as Bernie Sanders, Dick Durbin, Patty Murray and others will rise to chair Senate Committees, setting the agenda for at least the next two years until mid-term elections are held in 2022.
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are set to be certified winners today by Congress despite expected objections by some Republican members. Both will then be sworn in on January 20th.
Frank Corder
