ATLANTA — President-elect Joe Biden is thanking Georgia voters for delivering him the state in last month’s election and asking them to follow up by electing Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
Biden traveled to Atlanta for a post-election rally Tuesday to help the Democrats looking to knock off incumbent Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in Jan. 5 runoffs. It's the president-elect’s second foray outside the Wilmington, Delaware, area since last month’s election.
Biden is the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Georgia since 1992. He'll return to the state Tuesday to campaign alongside Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff elections that will determine Senate control.
As it stands, the Republicans hold a 50-48 majority in the upper chamber. But if both Ossoff and Warnock win their January runoff elections, Democrats would take control of the Senate by virtue of vice president-elect Kamala Harris' tiebreak vote.
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A day after the Electoral College affirmed his victory, Biden used his remarks to call for unity. But he also made the case that he badly needed “doers and not roadblocks" once he takes office next month.
“We can get so much done, so much that can make the lives of the people of Georgia and the whole country so much better,” Biden said. “And we need senators who are willing to do it, for God’s sake.”
If the Democrats win both Georgia runoffs, Biden would enter office with Democratic control of both chambers of Congress, giving him far more leverage to push his agenda.
“Are you ready to vote for two United States senators who know how to say the word ‘yes’ and not just ‘no’?” Biden said at the drive-in rally.
According to the Associated Press, Warnock and Ossoff could benefit from riding Biden's coattails. Biden finished with more votes than any candidate during the 2020 election — but Ossoff ran about 88,000 votes behind President Donald Trump and about 100,000 votes behind Biden.
Trump campaigned for Republican candidates, Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Sen. David Perdue, earlier this month.