The Georgia Senate runoff elections are ramping up as parts of the country are hunkering down while COVID-19 spreads through some communities.
Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock have adjusted their campaign schedules amid the pandemic. The pair, who often hit the hustings together, are hosting outdoor, physically distanced events as other states reintroduce restrictions before Thanksgiving.
And Republican incumbents, Sens. David Perdue and appointed Kelly Loeffler, are contrasting their approach to Democratic fears regarding the novel coronavirus.
“I want to reopen our economy. I want to ensure Georgia small businesses and workers have relief,” Loeffler tweeted Wednesday. “Democrats want lockdowns — and they’ve blocked relief time and time again. We’re going to hold them accountable on January 5th.”
I want to reopen our economy. I want to ensure Georgia small businesses and workers have relief.
Democrats want lockdowns — and they’ve blocked relief time and time again.
We’re going to hold them accountable on January 5th. #gapol #gasen pic.twitter.com/5WVZ55D1OL
— Kelly Loeffler (@KLoeffler) November 18, 2020
While New York sent public school children home, Michigan reimplemented a “three-week pause,” and Kansas rolled out a mask mandate, Perdue and Loeffler have held indoor rallies together. Florida Sen. Rick Scott headlined one.
Images from the respective gatherings epitomize the virus’s politicization in Georgia, a state that’s home to both the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
Kemp, who was widely mocked in the spring for not realizing asymptomatic carriers could spread the virus, was one of the last governors to issue a shutdown order in April before relaxing it two and a half weeks later. He and Democratic Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, then rumored to be on President-elect Joe Biden’s running mate shortlist, ended up in court over their conflicting rules.
University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock wasn’t surprised by Perdue and Loeffler’s rhetoric. He predicted Loeffler would echo President Trump more than Perdue, a first-term senator with a mixed business record who predates the president. His cousin, Sonny Perdue, is Georgia’s former governor and has been Trump’s agriculture secretary since 2017 as well.
“She’s going to toe whatever line the president has,” Bullock said. “He’s less clearly wedded himself to Trump than Loeffler. It’s essential that he be supportive of the president’s line. It may be that as he and Loeffler go out together in opposition to the Democrats, he may move more in that direction.”
For Bullock, Perdue and Loeffler’s anti-lockdown message resonated with Georgians because many believe “keeping business open is preferable to stringently closing everything down.”
“Most Georgians would say we’re willing to take some risks,” he said.
Trump casts a long shadow over the races, but he’s yet to shine his spotlight on them. He did fly Air Force One down to Georgia amid his own White House bid, anointing them as his preferred candidates. Perdue, who, along with Loeffler, had been cleared in May of insider trading allegations, seemed to mispronounce Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s name purposely in Macon.
“Any plans about what the president may do will have to coincide with a lot of the official business we still have yet to do,” White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters Wednesday.
During the past 16 days, Trump has had five public events on his calendar.
Republicans would consider Trump not stumping for the duo as “a missed opportunity,” though they could “probably” perform well without him, according to Bullock.
Some pundits have speculated that Trump could become a liability if he and his allies, including Perdue and Loeffler, continue to undermine Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger over voter fraud accusations as the president tries to overturn his contest’s results.
“Does that discourage some Republicans from turning out?” Bullock asked, but he wasn’t sure of the answer.
The runoffs restart Georgia’s voting process. Officials started mailing out absentee ballots on Wednesday before the voter registration period shutters on Dec. 7. Early in-person voting begins Dec. 14, and all parties can request a recount if the margin of victory is less than half a percentage point.
While Perdue grapples with his Harris gaffe and new claims he made questionable defense stock trades as a senator, Loeffler is juggling primary baggage of her own.
Loeffler’s special election for the last two years of retired Sen. Johnny Isakson’s term was a 21-person, multiparty affair, where she was pitted against Republican Rep. Doug Collins. Loeffler, a businesswoman in her own right who’s married to New York Stock Exchange Chairman Jeffrey Sprecher, spent millions of dollars on attack ads caricaturing Collins as a “fake conservative.” Collins, as the top House Judiciary Republican, was a vocal proponent of Trump’s during his impeachment.
“Loeffler’s central vulnerability is that some people go in and vote for Perdue and then skip over her contest,” Bullock said. “Loeffler has to unite the Republican Party, and by that, I mean win over Collins’s supporters.”
Loeffler has to contend, too, with running against Warnock, who could be Georgia’s first black senator. While Warnock faces criticism over sermons in which he said it was impossible to serve God and the military, Bullock thought her ties to Trump may limit her ability to leverage her gender with independents.
“And because of this lack of support the Republicans have generally given to female candidates, it may not even help her among Republicans,” he said, referring to Georgia’s dismal record of promoting women lawmakers.
Georgia was expected to complete its hand recount of Nov. 3 ballots on Thursday, part of Trump’s challenges to the outcome.
