Trump, Biden head to Georgia ahead of Senate run-offs
Jan 04, 2021
Washington [US], January 4 : US President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden will travel to Georgia on Monday to make one final push for their respective parties in the upcoming Senate run-off elections that will decide which party controls the upper chamber for the next two years.
The Senate run-offs will take place on January 5, where Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue will face-off against Democratic Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.
Republicans fear that Trump's repeated allegations regarding the presidential election threaten to affect the party's turnout, yet GOP strategists acknowledge that his presence is important to generate enthusiasm to get his base to the polls, according to The Hill.
If Republicans win one or both seats, they will maintain the Senate majority.
The victory of Democrats in both Senate races will give them control over the Senate and provide a much bigger advantage to the incoming Biden administration in setting an agenda.
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have each made one trip so far to Georgia prior to appearances just before Election Day, and former President Barack Obama held a virtual rally for Democratic candidates Ossoff and Warnock, reported The Hill.
Limited polling has shown a tight race between both Perdue and Ossoff and Loeffler and Warnock, with both sides emphasizing the stakes of the runoffs to drive turnout.
This follows after new members of the US Senate, who were elected in the November vote, were sworn in on Capitol Hill on Sunday noon as lawmakers convened to form the 117th Congress, with Nancy Pelosi re-elected as House Speaker.
