The GOP senators from Georgia who are up for reelection are calling for Georgia’s secretary of state to step down.
Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, both of whom will face off against Democrats on Jan. 5 in runoff elections, demanded Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, resign because “the management of Georgia elections has become an embarrassment for the state.”
“Georgians are outraged, and rightfully so,” they wrote in a statement on Monday. “We have been clear from the beginning: every legal vote cast should be counted. Any illegal vote must not. And there must be transparency and uniformity in the counting process. This isn’t hard. This isn’t partisan. This is American. We believe when there are failures, they need to be called out — even when it’s in your own party. There have been too many failures in Georgia elections this year and the most recent election has shined a national light on the problems.”
They concluded by saying that Raffensperger “failed to deliver honest and transparent elections” and that he has “failed the people of Georgia.” Despite their claims, Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, said that they haven’t seen “any sort of credible incidents raised to our level yet,” according to CNN.
Raffensperger released a statement disputing their claims and asserting that his imminent resignation “is not going to happen.” He also called the election a “resounding success” because “the average wait time to vote was 3 minutes,” and he noted that his state had a record turnout.
As of Monday afternoon, presumptive President-elect Joe Biden was leading the presidential race in Georgia by more than 10,000 votes. Even though many media outlets have projected Biden to be the next president, the Trump campaign has refused to concede, instead leaning on lawsuits over alleged voter fraud, counting mail-in ballots, or other matters and recounts in some battleground states, including Georgia.
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“The false projection of Joe Biden as the winner is based on results in four states that are far from final,” Matt Morgan, the Trump campaign’s general counsel, said in a statement on Friday. “Georgia is headed for a recount, where we are confident we will find ballots improperly harvested and where President Trump will ultimately prevail.”
Neither Perdue nor Loeffler was able to win 50% of the vote, a necessary threshold a candidate must reach to win a senate seat representing Georgia. Perdue will be going up against Democrat Jon Ossoff after accumulating 49.7% of the vote, according to the Associated Press, while Loeffler defeated Georgia GOP Rep. Doug Collins in a primary but will still have to face off against Democrat Raphael Warnock.
Control of the U.S. Senate will depend on how the races in Georgia play out.
Collins is now heading up the Trump campaign’s legal pursuits in Georgia.
