While most of the races in the chaotic 2020 elections are decided, two of the most important races are up for grabs: the two U.S. Senate seats in Georgia which will ultimately determine which party will have majority control of the Senate. 

In the first race, Republican Sen. David Perdue is trying to hold on to his seat against Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff. This race is essentially a two candidate race, but a third party candidate caused Perdue and Ossoff to advance to a Jan. 5, 2021 runoff election. In the second race, Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler is fighting a challenge from Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock. This race had many candidates enter, but Warnock and Loeffler were the top two finishers, respectively. This means both of them will advance to a separate runoff, also taking place on Jan 5.

The main question observers of these races might have is, “Why is there a runoff election for these two races only?” According to Georgia’s law, the candidates in each of the races must have 50 percent of the votes in, or else the top two candidates in each respective race will advance to a runoff. That’s the case with both of these races. In addition, one may wonder why there are two Senate races in Georgia, while the rest of the states only have one race. The reason for that is because the Perdue-Ossoff race is a normal senate race and Loeffler-Warnock is a special election, to fill out the remainder of former Sen. Johnny Isakson’s seat, who retired due to health issues at the end of 2019.

One of the reasons this race has gotten a lot of attention is because it will decide whether the Republican retain the majority in the U.S. Senate, or if the Democrats will retake the Senate. If the Republicans Perdue and Loeffler win, then their party will retain power in the Senate. However, if the Democratic candidates win, then the U.S. Senate will be split 50-50 and the VP-elect Kamala Harris will be the tie-breaking vote, which gives the Democrats the majority. 

If the Senate remains in the hands of the Republicans, they will be able to influence president-elect Joe Biden’s presidency and essentially block many of his policies he plans to pass. However, if the majority switches because of a loss from Perdue and Loeffler, the Democratic party will have control of the executive and legislative branch making it much simpler to have Biden’s policies and nominations approved. 

So far, a record amount of money has been donated to the Georgia runoff elections. For example, Ossoff has raised more than $30 million while his opponent Perdue has raised more than $20 million, as of Oct. 14,  according to opensecrets.org. People have realized how much influence these Senate seats will have and they have begun  writing checks to help their favored candidates. The Democratic party will remain in control of the House of Representatives, but the Senate’s fate remains up in the air until early 2021. 

Photo credits: “David Perdue & Cory Gardner” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0