Political Rewind: Morning After Runoff Election Underlines Record Turnout, Historic Result

Caption

Elections workers at the Fulton County Georgia elections warehouse check in voting machine memory cards that store ballots following the Senate runoff election in Atlanta on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021. Georgia's two Senate runoff elections on Tuesday will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. Republican Kelly Loeffler is going up against Democrat Raphael Warnock, while Republican David Perdue is challenging Democrat Jon Ossoff. Democrats must win both seats to take control of the Senate.

Credit: Ben Gray, AP

Wednesday on Political Rewind: The Rev. Raphael Warnock has been elected the first African American U.S. senator from Georgia. His victory over Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler puts the Democratic Party within one seat of capturing a majority in the Senate. Now, the focus turns to the race between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican incumbent David Perdue, where Ossoff holds a small but potentially unbroachable lead over the state’s senior senator.

Late into the night as the Democrats took the lead in both contests, President Donald Trump dipped into his well-worn playbook to unleash a barrage of tweets questioning the integrity of the vote.

Panelists:

Dr. Alan Abramowitz — Professor of Political Science at Emory University, 

Greg Bluestein — Politics Reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Dr. Andra Gillespie — Professor of Political Science at Emory

Mariela Romero — Journalist and Regional Community Empowerment Director, Univision