President-elect Joe Biden will do his best to help Democrats win two Senate seats in Georgia that will determine party control in the first critical years of his administration, a widespread effort that not long ago would have been unthinkable in a state dominated by Republicans. to the deep south.
The push ahead of Tuesday’s election comes with early voting that makes some Republicans nervous, as President Donald Trump, who narrowly lost the state to Biden, continues to falsely claim that Georgia’s electoral process is being manipulated. .
Biden and his team have raised at least $ 18 million to help Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock try to oust Republican Sen. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. Biden Campaign Director and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O’Malley Dillon confirmed the figures on Saturday, ahead of upcoming visits to Biden State and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. The money includes approximately $ 6 million in staff and voter data support and $ 12 million in fundraising for both campaigns.
The president-elect and Harris have also recorded phone calls to cover the state before Tuesday. The couple has planned media interviews in Georgia, including the morning drive-time radio and afternoon election day.
The effort reflects the big bet, with Democrats needing a sweep to tip the Senate in their favor, while Republicans just need a seat to maintain their majority and force Biden to fight the divided government. Beyond what it means for Biden’s legislative prospects, the president-elect’s activity highlights the state’s evolution toward a legitimate two-party battlefield and what Biden’s team announces as the his advantages as the first Democrat since 1992 to lead the state in the presidential election.
“We’re not having any conversation about whether there’s added value for the president-elect to be a part of it. There is,” O’Malley Dillon said in an interview. “The party feels that way and sees the only coalition it has brought together.”
Biden will be in Atlanta on Monday, the same day Trump heads to the city of Dalton in northern Georgia to hold a rally on the eve of the election. Vice President Mike Pence will also be in Georgia on Monday. Harris will be in Savannah on Sunday.
Republicans are facing considerable pressure to maximize the expected election day advantage to offset an apparent repeat of the Democrats ’success in early turnout in the November election.
“These are turnout elections and Democrats have gotten their votes,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, warned a Republican Party crowd Saturday in Cumming, an Atlanta suburb, where he campaigned with Loeffler.
In November, a total of about 5 million votes were cast. This included 3.6 million early votes and about 1.4 million on election day. Democrats gained a wide lead in the first ballots, but Republicans regained ground on Nov. 3. Biden defeated Trump by about 12,500 votes; Perdue led Ossoff with about 88,000 votes, but failed to reach the majority needed to win directly. Loeffler and Warnock were forced to drain because they both fell very shy in front of the majority.
Perdue’s initial advantage gave Republicans confidence for much of the second-round campaign. But the early participation of black voters, who lean on an overwhelming democracy, is now a major concern for the Republican Party. Black voters represent approximately 31% of the electorate of early bets so far; there are still several hundred thousand votes for absence, according to non-partisan data analyst Ryan Anderson of Atlanta. At this time in the general election, the black turnout of the first electorate was less than 28%.
Meanwhile, more than 110,000 voters who did not participate in November have cast second-round votes; O’Malley Dillon said Democrats’ analysis shows the group is leaning heavily in its favor. All of this suggests that Republicans should have an even bigger advantage on Election Day than in November.
In the northern suburbs, where Democrats have made considerable gains in recent election cycles, Loeffler repeated the themes of his second stage, caricaturing Warnock and Ossoff as radicals who do not fit Georgia’s political composition. But he made no remarks about the possibility of Democrats winning.
“Don’t be fooled, they have energy. They are coming out, ”he said. “We need you to make sure you get 10, 20 members of your family and friends on Tuesday. We have three days to do that.”
While Loeffler was campaigning, the president made a Twitter presentation with more false claims that Biden’s victory in Georgia was fraudulent. In fact, Georgia election officials, including Republicans, have ensured the accuracy of the count and several courts have rejected the challenges of the Trump and GOP elections.
Perdue remained in quarantine Saturday after being exposed to a campaign member who tested positive for coronavirus. He told Fox News he would miss Monday’s Trump rally.
Meanwhile, in the Biden camp, O’Malley Dillon said there is confidence that Georgia, regardless of its outcome, has already shown a new path for Democrats under Biden. He said the president-elect can energize the party’s most diverse and liberal base, appealing to more moderate voters, including white voters in the metropolitan area who might have been leaning toward Republicans. This, he said, makes it more difficult to sustain ROP attacks on “radicals” and “socialism”. And O’Malley Dillon said Georgia’s investments demonstrate Biden’s willingness to lend its brand across the country, even in GOP strongholds.
“Joe Biden is the guy who was always out there to help the party and help the candidates, making more revenue than anyone … showing up at state party events. That’s just a part of what he is,” O said ‘Malley Dillon, and added that Georgia “reflects how the president-elect wants to boost” his political operation as president.
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Thanawala reported from Cumming, Georgia.