"There Has Never Been a Runoff Like This"... Georgia Runoff 'Neck and Neck' Deciding Senate Majority

3 Million Voters Participate in Early Voting
Incumbent and Next Presidential Candidates Both Campaigning
Election Funds Expected to Reach 500 Million Dollars

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] "An unprecedented event has occurred. In one state, an election is being held to elect two senators at once (U.S. senators serve six-year terms, and it is rare for both seats to change at the same time. This time, a special election was held because Senator Jonny Aijackson resigned due to health reasons.) Both candidates had to go through a runoff election. Moreover, the outcome of this election will determine the majority party in the U.S. Senate."

On the 2nd (local time), Charles Block, a political scientist at the University of Georgia, said this in an interview with Bloomberg News about the significance of the Georgia runoff election.

Although this election is to elect only two senators, the meaning attached to it is quite significant. Excluding the results from Georgia, the Republicans hold 50 seats in the Senate, while the Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents hold 48 seats. For the Republicans, gaining just one more seat would give them the majority, but if the Democrats gain two more seats, the Senate would be split 50:50. Considering that Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will serve as the Senate President after inauguration, the Democrats would become the majority party in the Senate.

Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff (right), who is running in the Georgia Senate runoff election, is meeting with voters.
[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

Bloomberg News even emphasized that all reform agendas during President-elect Biden's term hinge on the outcome of this election. If the Senate, which holds powerful authority over legislation, appointments, and budget, is controlled, reforms can proceed rapidly. However, if not, the pace of reform under the Biden administration will inevitably face limitations. Conversely, the Republicans' ability to check the Biden administration depends on whether they secure power.

The importance of this is confirmed by the fact that on the day before the election, the incumbent U.S. president and the president-elect both visited Georgia to conduct their final campaigns.

Normally, runoff elections have low voter turnout, but already 3 million people have participated in early voting. Considering that in the 2008 runoff election, only 2.1 million people voted in both early and main voting combined, this is a record level.

Huge amounts of campaign funds have also been poured in. If a candidate had won a majority, the election would have ended in last November’s election, which saw $205 million (about 223 billion KRW) spent. However, it is projected that $500 million was spent in just two months for the runoff election. On TV, political advertisements are pouring in to the extent that it is likened to a bombardment.

Georgia has traditionally been a Republican stronghold. Accordingly, two incumbent Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, face Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. Ossoff is a young documentary filmmaker aged 33, and Warnock is a Black pastor.

Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia is campaigning.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The race is tight. In the presidential election, Biden won by just about 12,000 votes, marking the first Democratic victory in this area in 28 years since President Bill Clinton won here. According to the average of polls from the political site 'RealClearPolitics' (December 14?27), Ossoff leads by 0.8%, and Warnock leads by 1.8 percentage points. However, since the leading candidate varies depending on the poll, it is difficult to predict the outcome based solely on polling data.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.