With just two weeks until Georgia’s runoff election between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Herschel Walker, party leaders are ramping up spending on advertisements in a last-ditch effort to secure the Senate seat that has been deemed crucial for both sides.
Democrats have already secured a tight majority in the Senate after Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s win in Nevada, guaranteeing the party 50 seats plus Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote. Democrats view Warnock’s seat in Georgia as crucial to advancing the party’s agenda over the next two years, while Republicans are hoping to maintain a 50-50 Senate.
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Here’s a breakdown of why the Dec. 6 runoff election is still important to both parties despite control already lying with the Democrats.
Democrats eye safer majority, while Republicans wish to maintain tie
Under the current Senate makeup, both parties have held 50 seats, with Harris serving as the tiebreaking vote in favor of the Democrats.
Democrats are seeking to hold on to the Georgia Senate seat already held by Warnock, eyeing a 51-49 Senate majority — a composition that would give the Left an outright majority that could help the party pass legislation more easily. Furthermore, it would mean Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer would no longer have to negotiate a power-sharing agreement with his Republican counterpart Mitch McConnell to push bills through the upper chamber.
Republicans are hoping to preserve their tie in the Senate to maintain some sense of control, eyeing a 50-50 makeup as a way to block Democratic legislation. The GOP has already secured a narrow majority in the House, meaning a tie in the Senate could help the party stall the Democrats’ agenda over the next two years.
Democrats could hold advantage over committee votes with outright majority
Should Democrats secure a 51-49 majority, the party would likely manage to seat an extra Democrat on each committee, giving them an advantage in advancing legislation.
In the current Senate, each committee is evenly split under the 50-50 power-sharing deal. This often delays the passage of legislation crucial to the Democrats’ agenda.
“It’s always better with 51 because we’re in a situation where you don’t have to have an even makeup of the committees,” said President Joe Biden, who spent 36 years in the Senate. “And so that’s why it’s important, mostly. But it’s just simply better. The bigger the numbers, the better.”
At the same time, Republicans are seeking to maintain an even split among the committees in order to have some control over the passage of legislation.
Democrats could shake Joe Manchin’s influence
With a 51-49 Senate makeup, Democrats would also have room to lose one Democratic vote and still squeeze by with a majority vote. That reality would lessen Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)’s influence in the upper chamber as the West Virginia Democrat has often served as a thorn in the party’s side over the last two years.
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Manchin, a centrist, has used the narrow margin to his advantage, threatening to vote against legislation if Democrats didn’t make compromises — often stalling bills for months. With an extra seat, Democrats could get away with losing Manchin on certain pieces of legislation by securing a 50-50 split and having Harris break the tie.
Republicans are likely keen to maintain Manchin’s influence in the Democratic Party, as the West Virginia senator has sided with them more often than any other Democratic senator and even helped McConnell block an effort to reform the chamber’s filibuster rule.
