Democrats will control the US Senate by winning the two contested seats in Tuesday’s elections in the state of Georgia.
The two Democratic candidates for the Senate managed to defeat the two Republican senators who were in office, according to projections on US television.
Now each party will have 50 senators and in case of a tie the vice president.
Control of the Senate in the first two years of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s tenure was determined by the outcome of these elections.
President-elect Joe Biden’s Democrats already have a majority in the House of Representatives, and they needed by extension and to win both seats to gain control of the Senate, Congress.
President Donald Trump’s Republicans , for their part, needed only one winner to maintain control of the Senate.
This control of the Senate will give the Biden government, which takes office on January 20, greater opportunities to achieve its agenda on issues such as health and climate change.
The Senate also has the power to approve or reject Biden’s nominees for cabinet and judicial positions.
Trump will take a considerable share of the blame
It seems that Republican concern in the runoff of the Georgia election was well founded. Voters did not go to the polls in the numbers they expected, while Democrats appeared in greater numbers.
The two Democrats at times seemed the same team and complemented each other’s coalitions. Warnock energized black voters, while Ossoff energized educated voters in the suburbs around Atlanta.
Donald Trump will receive a considerable share of the blame for the Republican defeat. The party that loses the White House tends to do better in the next congressional election, not worse.
And Georgia, despite Biden’s win there in November, is still a conservative state.
Both races on Tuesday were closed as Trump invested his time and energy in contesting the electoral defeat and in attacking the Republican leaders of Georgia.
It appears that it was not the smartest strategy and that it will cost Republicans control of the Senate.
How were the elections?
The final results are expected later, but the projections are already an irreversible trend.
Why was there a runoff in Georgia?
In the elections of last November 2020 both Republicans won, but neither of them obtained 50% of the votes with which, according to the law of that state, they could be declared the winner, so this second round was necessary.
In this campaign, the Democrats sought to win supporters in major urban areas, particularly in the Atlanta suburbs, and were upset by winning both.
A Democrat had not won a Senate race in Georgia in 20 years.
Trump accusations
Meanwhile, President Trump, whose unsubstantiated claims that he was the victim of electoral fraud left Republican strategists concerned about turnout in the second round of the Senate on Tuesday, continued to criticize the integrity of the vote in Georgia.
“It looks like they are setting up a big ‘voter dump’ against Republican candidates. Waiting to see how many votes they need?” The president tweeted Tuesday night.
It appears that the concerns of Republican strategists in Georgia were justified,
Republicans did not vote in the numbers expected, while Democrats increased their turnout.
If the Democratic candidates win, Trump will receive “considerable blame , ”
The party that loses the White House tends to fare better in subsequent legislative elections, and Georgia, despite Joe Biden’s victory there, remains a traditionally conservative state.
During this Senate campaign, Trump spent most of his time contesting his electoral defeat and launching attacks against Republican leaders in the state.
That, “may not have been a smart electoral strategy and could cost Republicans control of the Senate.”
On Saturday, Trump pressured Georgia’s top election official, Republican Brad Raffensperger, to “find” enough votes to overturn Biden’s victory in the state presidential election.
Why were elections so important in Georgia?
The upper house of the US Congress, the Senate has been controlled by the Partido republicano since 2014.
This instance is key for the approval of laws and the confirmation of the appointments of the cabinet and the judges of the Supreme Court, the highest court in the country.