Americans eagerly awaited the results of the second round of the election last night which will define the national senator for Georgia because this election has a strong national impact: the polls in the southern state will set the agenda of President Joe Biden and the future of the Republican party.
Outgoing Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock he was competing against the former footballer Herschel Walkerpromoted by former Republican President Donald Trump, who sought to promote well-known candidates with no political experience for the Nov. 8 election.
They ended up tight in the first round and neither contender managed to get 50% of the vote, so the runoff that would have closed last month’s legislative elections was held this Tuesday.
Previous polls indicated that this election they would be very close and some predicted a small lead for Democrat Warnock over his rival. The results may also take several days to be known.
The national impact
“Georgia, today is Election Day and the nation is watching you. Go to the polls and help @ReverendWarnock return to the US Senate,” Biden tweeted, eyeing the second tranche of his government could be affected for what happens in the “state of peaches”, so called for the main crop of the area.
Democrat Warnock, pastor of the Baptist church where African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King preached, in Atlanta, he focused his campaign on character and Walker’s ability to serve.
The republican was surrounded by scandals because he said he suffered from personality delusions, that he had beaten his ex-wife and, moreover, two ex-girlfriends appeared who denounced having paid for an abortion. One of them also said that she had a son with him to whom she does not give money.
The pillars of the Republican campaign – beyond the criticism of the Biden government – had been, in fact family values and refusal of abortion.
From this seat in the Senate it does not depend on the balance of power in Congress because the Democrats have already won control of the upper house in November, while the Republicans have managed to regain control of the House of Representatives by a few seats.
However, Democrats today depend on Vice President Kamala Harris’ ballot to get bills passed in the Senate since there are 50 lawmakers from each party.
Furthermore, if they achieve a majority of 51, they would be able to control more parliamentary committees as well it would not depend on the will of two moderate Democratic senators which sometimes do not coincide with certain initiatives by Biden, which is why they are paralyzed in the upper house.
And Trump?
If Warnock wins Georgia, she would not only have more comfort in passing laws, but also more power to appoint federal judges, ambassadors and officials who need House approval.
The Republicans, meanwhile, see this seat in the Senate the opportunity to accentuate its powerr to block Biden’s policies and better position himself for the 2024 presidential election.
They also hope to recover from the blow they suffered in the November election, when they thought they would wreak havoc, hand in hand with inflation and Biden’s unpopularity, and only managed to reclaim the House of Representatives.
Trump also has a lot at stake personally because a defeat for his candidate would give him another blow to his presidential candidacy for next year, a move he launched shortly after the November election.
The former president has been severely challenged by the Republican Party establishment since his elected officials – generally outsiders with extremist ideas – have lost in strategic places such as Pennsylvania and Arizona. He needs a win from Walker to oxygenate his candidacy and internal attacks.
Due to the relevance of this election event, Democrats and Republicans have put their entire arsenal on the line, with campaign spending reaching $400 million. The ruling party has addressed former President Barack Obama, one of the party’s most charismatic figures, who headlined events in Atlanta last week.
More than 1.9 million people had voted early, most registered as Democrats. But the Republican electorate usually mobilizes on Election Day, so it was hard to predict an outcome.
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Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.