The Runoff Report: Biden will be in Georgia next week


Republicans have secured 50 seats in the next U.S. Senate compared to Democrats’ 48 (including two independents who caucus with them). Control of the next Senate comes down to Georgia’s runoff elections. In The Runoff Report, we provide the latest on each race and the fight for Senate control.

Regular election updates

David Perdue posted a 3.5-minute biographical ad titled, “The Original Outsider.” Perdue discusses his upbringing and his work with Reebok and Dollar General. Perdue also appeared on Newsmax’s Greg Kelly Reports and Fox News At Night With Shannon Bream. He made campaign stops in Habersham, Stephens, Hart, Lincoln, McDuffie, and Columbia counties Dec. 9.

Jon Ossoff held a car rally in Macon Dec. 9. State Rep. Miriam Paris (D), state Sen. David Lucas (D), and gospel singer Tasha Cobbs spoke in support of him and Raphael Warnock at the rally.

This election is for a full six-year term ending January 2027. Perdue was first elected in 2014. Ossoff ran against Karen Handel (R) in the 6th Congressional District special election in 2017.

Click here for more coverage of the regular election.

Special election updates

Kelly Loeffler shared statements from four leaders of groups opposing abortion, including National Right to Life and Susan B. Anthony List, criticizing Warnock and praising Loeffler. Loeffler’s campaign press release read, “While Warnock has been endorsed and bankrolled by Planned Parenthood and NARAL – two extremist groups notorious for their support of unlimited abortion-on-demand – Senator Loeffler is 100% pro-life, and has the endorsement of every major pro-life group in the nation – including those listed above.”

Raphael Warnock thanked the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC for endorsing him: “I’m proud to receive your endorsement & I’m grateful for the work you do to support our party’s values. Echoing Dr. King, as senator I’ll stand for Israel’s security & will work to strengthen the alliance between our nations.”

The special election will fill the remainder of the term Johnny Isakson (R) won in 2016. He resigned in Dec. 2019, and Gov. Brian Kemp (R) appointed Loeffler, co-owner of the WNBA team Atlanta Dream. Warnock is senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church. The winner will complete the term ending in January 2023. 

Click here for more coverage of the special election.

Overall campaign updates

  • President-elect Joe Biden will campaign for Ossoff and Warnock in Atlanta Dec. 15.
  • Trump’s 2020 campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told Newsmax‘s Sean Spicer, “You’ll see the president again heading down to Georgia to campaign for the candidates.”
  • FiveThirtyEight published an analysis of where ActBlue and WinRed donations for the runoffs have come from. Some excerpts:

“…96 percent of the money Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff have raised for the runoff through ActBlue have come from out-of-state donors. They’ve raised a combined $4.3 million from Georgians on the platform, which puts the state seventh in cash donated to its own races via ActBlue, behind California ($25.8 million), New York ($10.6 million), Washington ($6.2 million), Massachusetts ($5.8 million), Texas ($4.9 million) and Florida ($4.8 million).”

“A full 92 percent of Republicans’ runoff donations on WinRed have come from outside Georgia, too. And their top source of cash has also been California ($6.8 million), followed by Texas ($6.6 million), Florida ($6.5 million) and then Georgia ($4.4 million).”

Today: Part 1 – General election vote shares by county

The map below shows which counties Ossoff and Perdue won in the Nov. 3 election. Darker shades of blue indicate a higher percentage of votes for Ossoff, and darker shades of red indicate a higher percentage for Perdue. Click here to view the map on our website, where you can hover over each county to see the percentage of votes each candidate received there.

Stay tuned for a map of the special election vote breakdown by county for Loeffler, Warnock, and Republican candidate Doug Collins.