A week-long voting period begins in some Georgia counties on Saturday. Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and Republican rival Herschel Walker are closing in on their race on Dec. 6, a week and a half after Thanksgiving.
Unlike the 2021 race, the Senate majority is off the charts, with 50 seats for Democrats. Additionally, Vice President Kamala Harris gave the party a draw.
But the odds remain unknown. Warnock’s victory would give Democrats a majority on the field, backing the power-sharing deal currently in effect. Democrats would have a majority in committees.
This will make it easier for the party to move forward with President Joe Biden’s nominees.
The Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday gave Warnock a triumph, allowing counties to hold early voting on Saturday. According to Democrats, they expected this to happen in about 22 counties. These areas include populated ones around Atlanta, like DeKalb, Fulton, and Chatham County – home of Savannah.
The court ruling comes after a legal battle over an interpretation of the state’s 2021 election law, sparked by Georgian Foreign Minister Brad Raffensperger. He explained that the new law prohibits voting on the weekend immediately following the public holiday.
This law has cut half the time for election races to four weeks. In addition, the early voting period has been reduced to at least five days instead of the minimum of 16 days. Democrats passed the law as the party won two Senate races in the state in January 2021.
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Warnock is on the Lead
From October 20 to November 16, Warnock raised nearly $52.2 million. That period included the conclusion of the general election and the first week of the run. During that time, Walker raised $20.9 million, according to campaign records from him at the Federal Election Commission.
At the end of the period, Warnock had over $29.7 million in the bank – three times more than the $9.8 million on his rival’s bank.
Warnock is expected to take in a prominent Democratic surrogate. In addition, former president Barack Obama is set to appear in Atlanta on Thursday for a campaign before the last day of early voting.
As far as the runoff is concerned, Obama is the only president – or former – set to visit the state before it.
President Joe Biden hasn’t announced any future visits to Georgia yet, and neither did former President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, other Republicans campaign around Walker as the Senate Leadership Fund and the super PAC agreed with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. They gained over $10 million into the runoff since the general elections.
Backing
Furthermore, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp appeared with Walker on the stage, ignoring the former football star during the fall.
Kemp beat a challenger Trump supported in May. Moreover, he outpaced Walker by over 200,000 votes in the general election. This indicates his crossover charisma to moderate Democrats and Walker’s hardships unifying the Republicans.
But Democrats stated that they don’t think Kemp could save Walker in a race where he’s the only Republican in the race.
“There’s tons of folks that voted for Raphael Warnock and Brian Kemp,” the 2014 Democratic nominee for governor, Jason Carter, said. Carter is also the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter.
He referred to Warnock as a “unique figure.” He also said he “got more votes than Herschel Walker and more votes than any other Democrat.”
Carter added: “People appreciated him. And they think him as Raphael Warnock first and as his political party and all other stuff second.”
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Photo: Static01
