Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff has won his second round of elections, putting Democrats in control of the Senate for the opening of Joe Biden’s presidency.
Ossoff’s victory against David Perdue was announced late by the Associated Press on Wednesday and follows fellow Democrat Raphael Warnock’s victory against incumbent Kelly Loeffler.
With Ossoff and Warnock’s victories, the US Senate is now 50-50.
Vice-President elect Kamala Harris will serve as the binding 51st round of voting, putting Democrats in control of the chamber for the first time since 2015.
A pastor who led the Atlanta church where Martin Luther King Jr preached for the past 15 years, Warnock’s victory makes him the first black senator in his state’s history.
The results were a sharp rebuke from Donald Trump, who made one of his last office trips to Georgia to rally his loyal base behind the state’s Republican candidates.
In an emotional speech early on Wednesday, Warnock pledged to work for all Georgians, whether they voted for him or not, citing his personal experience with the American dream. His mother, he said, as a teenager “picked someone else’s cotton.”
“Recently, because this is America, the 82-year-old hands plucking someone else’s cotton chose her youngest son to become a United States senator,” he said. “Tonight we have proved with hope, hard work and the people by our side that anything is possible.”
The Democrats were propelled to victory in the Senate election by black voters, young voters, and newcomers to the rapidly diversifying state, a coalition just strong enough to overthrow a long-dominant GOP and take control of the U.S. Senate to take over.
According to AP VoteCast, black voters cast 32% of the vote, a slight increase from the presidential election two months ago. As in November, nearly all – 94% – of those votes went for Democrats. According to the survey of 3,700 voters in the second election, black voters accounted for about 60% of the vote for Democrats.
Voters under the age of 45 also broke for Democrats, as did suburban voters, women, low-income voters, and voters who have lived in the state for less than five years, a group that has about 60% of their votes for Democrats released.
The coalition closely mirrored who gave the Georgian electoral college the votes to President-elect Joe Biden, the first Democrat to win the state since 1992. By beating Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, Democrats get half the seats in the room, allowing Vice – President-elect Kamala Harris to serve as tie-breaker.
The high stakes run-offs drew hundreds of millions of dollars, media attention and a massive organizational effort. The result was an inches game – both Republicans and Democrats largely held their voters from November, the poll found, but Democrats did just that little bit better in pushing their voters to the polls.
The GOP candidates won an overwhelming majority – nearly three-quarters – of white voters and 60% of voters 65 and older. They also captured majorities from voters who made $ 75,000 or more. That coalition in the recent past would likely have been enough to keep Perdue and Loeffler in the Senate. But changing demographics and an energetic Democratic party have turned the tables.