On Tuesday, Democrats defeated the Republican incumbents in both of Georgia’s runoff elections, securing enough seats to control of the Senate after President-elect Biden’s inauguration. Democrat Raphael G. Warnock will become Georgia’s first Black senator, after defeating Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA). Warnock is currently the Senior Pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. He initially became involved in politics by campaigning to expand Medicare under the Affordable Care Act. According to his campaign website, Warnock “understands that that college isn’t for everyone and that we should be providing more options for people to make a good living for themselves and their families that don’t require college degrees.” He asserts he will support vocational training, trade schools and apprenticeship programs.
In the other runoff election, Democrat Jon Ossoff defeated incumbent Senator David Perdue (R-GA) by less than a percentage point. Prior to his election to the Senate, he served as a national security staffer for a Georgia congressman and as CEO of an investigative television production company. On his campaign website, Ossoff calls for a greater emphasis on vocational training and vows to fight to make vocational and trade school free.
The election of these two senators brings the balance of power in the Senate to 50-50, and after the Biden Inauguration, the tie will be broken by Vice President Harris, giving control of the chamber to the Democrats. At that time, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is expected to become chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. We’ll have more information on committee changes and implications of the shift in balance of power in the coming weeks!
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