The matter taking up space in the forefront of the minds of both Republican and Democratic Party leaders is the upcoming January 5 Georgia Senate runoff races.
The runoff races for both Senate seats have spiked immense controversies, disputes, and vexations, as the consequences of illegitimate voter fraud claims made by President Trump and the G.O.P. threaten to spill over and threaten chances of Republicans in the runoff races.
The stakes for the runoffs are high: if Republicans win at least one of the Georgia seats, they have the majority in the Senate. However, if Democrats win both seats, that will bring the Senate into a 50-50 tie, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris expected to break the draws in favor of Democrats. The idea of a Biden-controlled White House, possible Schumer-controlled Senate, and Pelosi-controlled House is giving Republicans daunting nightmares. Yet, their strategies to combat such an outcome may come and bite them back.
Historically, Republicans have had a lucrative advantage over runoff races held in Georgia, as they have won them every time. And this runoff election is no different. G.O.P. incumbent candidates Senator David Perdue and Senator Kelly Loeffler are going to have an upperhand in this election, noting the fact that though President-elect Biden did win the election in Georgia, it was by a slim 12,670 votes. That being said, there may be a silver lining for Democrats in both runoff races, as divisions in the Republican party threatens the re-election for both Senate incumbents.
While Republicans are keen on electing Perdue and Loeffler back to the Senate, both Senators are being caught in the ongoing squabbles within the party over the November presidential election. President Trump has continued to make baseless claims about voter fraud after his loss in the battleground state, and has directed his anger towards Georgia’s conservative Republican Governor and Secretary of State, Gov. Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger. Both Perdue and Loeffler are being pressured by Trump and his allies into challenging the integrity and outcome of the election without any evidence of such instances taking place. However, both Senators also need a plethora of Republican voters to trust the election process enough to actually come out to vote.
While Perdue and Loeffler both have called on Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State to resign over his unwillingness to repeat the GOP’s unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, both have been caught in a bind over mixed signals. Fundamentally, the message they are communicating to their voters is that the election in November was full of fraud; yet, they need their voters to engage in the same mishap once again in six weeks in order to re-elect them.
The so-called “fraud” of the November election is still hot in the mind of Republican Georgians. As Perdue and Loeffler continued to campaign all around the state, chants of “Stop the Steal” from the crowd interrupted Perdue’s speech at a rally.
The claims of voter fraud have created escalating instances where Georgian Republican voters are vowing to never vote again due to the “unlawful election,” as claimed by Trump’s Georgia lawyer, Lin Wood.
“Why would you go back and vote in another rigged election?” said Wood, while donning a red MAGA hat, vehemently pushing Trump’s voter fraud notion and seemingly ignoring how this could hurt their own party’s voter turnout in the runoffs.
Attorney Lin Wood, a member of President Trump’s legal team, speaks at a rally in Alpharetta, GA on Dec. 2, 2020. Photo Courtesy of Politico.
Kristen Jones, a constituent and voter from Canton, Georgia spoke to NPR about her growing concerns regarding the integrity of the January election.
“How can we expect that this election is going to have any integrity? That is a big concern that I don’t feel like anyone’s addressed,” she said.
Though Jones says she will vote in January, she knows others who have vowed to never vote again after the results of the November election.
There is an increasing number of Republican voters who are speaking out in a diatribe against what they believe to be fraudulent election results, saying they have lost faith in the election system. Yet, G.O.P. strategists and officials are warning Republican leaders against taking such stances, given that if they undermine the faith of the electoral system and emit a message that the vote didn’t count, Republicans may end up suppressing their own votes, blurring the path to reelection for both Republican Senators.
This message, however, is seemingly being ignored by the Trump-train’s constant fomenting.
Sidney Powell, a former conservative prosecutor and former Trump attorney, invigorated false claims of voter fraud, urging Republican voters in Georgia to sit out the January runoff elections, a very dangerous message for the G.O.P.
“I think I would encourage all Georgians to make it known that you will not vote at all until your vote is secure. And I mean that, regardless of party. We can’t live in a free republic unless we know our votes are legal and secure,” said Powell. Powell has a history of making statements that don’t have even a modicum of the truth. Powell’s previous expansive ghoulish conspiracy theories led to her dismissal from Trump’s legal team.
Attorney Sidney Powell speaking at a “Stop the Steal” rally in Alpharetta, GA on Dec. 2, 2020. Photo Courtesy of Politico.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who was part of the Republican Party building block in Georgia, admonished both Powell and Wood, calling them “totally destructive,” on Twitter Thursday.
“Every Georgia conservative who cares about America MUST vote in the runoff,” he wrote.
The palpable tension and presumptuous infighting between the Republican Party gives a menacing tone to Republican Georgians, as the close proximity between Biden and Trump’s votes seems to confirm that this runoff race will also be close.
And it seems like Democrats are taking their chances and capitalizing on the quarreling Republican Party.
A Democratic super PAC, Really American, has taken advantage of Trump’s false election fraud claims by launching a billboard campaign in Georgia.
“Perdue/Loeffler Didn’t Deliver For Trump, DON’T Deliver For Them,” one billboard reads, amplifying Trump and his allies’ calls to boycott the runoffs.
“Where’s Loeffler? Where’s Perdue? They have not earned your vote — Lin Wood, pro-Trump Lawyer,” another billboard reads.
Billboard placed in Georgia funded by Super PAC Really American. Photo Courtesy of Really American.
The PAC’s page on Act Blue, a Democratic fundraising platform that focuses on small-dollar donations, indicates that Really American has already funded 12 billboards, with another seven currently being built and eight more that have been purchased.
A poll conducted by SurveyUSA and commissioned by WXIA-TV also showed Reverend Raphael Warnock, Kelly Loeffler’s Democratic challenger, leading the incumbent by 52 percent to 45 percent. The poll also showed Democrat Jon Ossoff, David Perdue’s challenger, leading at a narrow 50 percent to 48 percent.
Though the lack of cohesion within the G.O.P. is quite comical during such a precarious runoff election, Republicans still have a political advantage in the state, as the party is aware that they have a lot more at stake in the Senate following Biden’s win. As polling results have indicated, the runoffs will be close, just like the presidential election. However, if the election proceeds to be as close as predicted, the infighting taking place within the party’s ranks will come back to bite G.O.P. leaders in the foot, becoming the reason for their demise.
