A Guide to Georgia’s Senate Runoffs

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 11 December 2020

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In three weeks, an election will take place that could be as important as the presidential vote in determining the course of the next four years. The Jan. 5 runoff elections in Georgia will determine whether two Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, keep their seats. If their Democratic challengers, Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, both win, Democrats would claim control of the Senate, giving President-Elect Joe Biden expanded power to realize his policy agenda. Today, we offer a guide to the two Senate races in Georgia. Guest: Astead W. Herndon, a national political reporter for The New York Times. For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here. Background reading: In the runoffs, Republicans are focusing attacks on the Rev. Raphael Warnock, portraying him as radical, a claim he has rejected.Some Atlanta suburbs that used to be “blood red” went blue in November. After helping deliver the presidency to Democrats, we examined whether they might give them the Senate, too. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Transcript

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0:00.0	From New York Times, I'm Michael Babaro. This is The Daily.
0:10.4	In three weeks, an election will take place that may be as important as the presidential election
0:17.6	in determining the course of the next four years. Today, my colleague,
0:23.7	a stead herndant with a guide to the two Senate races in Georgia.
0:32.7	It's Friday, December 11th.
0:38.4	I said to recap a bit of political history, there are two Senate races underway in Georgia,
0:44.1	because for a variety of reasons and quirks within Georgia's election system,
0:48.2	these races were not resolved in November. Nobody won them outright.
0:53.2	And that left the future balance of the Senate uncertain.
0:57.7	It will all be decided by what happens in these Georgia runoffs.
1:01.6	If the Democrats win both seats, they'll control the Senate.
1:05.0	If Republicans win one or both, they will retain power.
1:09.2	And so it now seems like the entire country's political machinery,
1:13.5	its fundraising muscle and its media might have all converged on this single state.
1:20.2	And you have been in Georgia. So what has that been like?
1:24.7	You know, in Georgia, it feels like the general election has a sort of overtime or a fifth quarter.
1:30.8	I'm John Ossoff, and the path to recovery is clear.
1:35.3	First, we listen to medical experts to control this virus.
1:39.0	I'm David Perdue, and I approve this message.
1:41.7	John Ossoff and Chuck Schumer have been caught in a lie.
1:46.0	The same level of intensity around organizing, around energy,
1:49.5	around money has flown into the Senate races,
	...

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