Let’s Thank These People for Georgia
Not Just Stacy Abrams, Reverend Warnock and Jon Ossof
Quick Recap: Importance of Georgia Senate Seats
At the end of the election cycle, Joe Biden was declared the next president and the Senate was stuck at 50–48 with Republicans at 50 and Democrats at 48. The 2 seats in Georgia were crucial to enable Joe Biden pass his policies without having to deal with hurdles. In the 50–50 split Senate, the vice president breaks the tie vote.
There is always special thanks to Stacy Abrams for doing full groundwork and mobilizing people to vote. Apart from her, the two candidates — Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossof were able to put forward their objectives with absolute clarity and honestly. However, here are the unspoken heroes who need more credit.
Special Thanks to These People:
The Voter Suppressors of The Segregation Era
They are the single most important group to thank. For comparison, here is a look at the 2020 Senate results for Michigan and Minnesota
Now, here is the results from Georgia’s regular senate election
What happened was despite all three cases of candidates receiving less than 50% of their votes, in Michigan and Minnesota the winners were declared as to who had the most votes. In Georgia, the candidate had to get at least 50% of the votes to be declared the winner.
Why? Because the Southern States, particularly Georgia had different voting laws where votes cast in small rural counties counted more heavily than votes cast in large urban jurisdictions. This voting law was found to be in violation of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution during. Georgia came up with the runoff concept after that. Studies have shown that the runoff concept was just another way to circumvent the idea of counting black votes equally to that of white votes.
If not for the suppression tactic and forced runoff, David Perdue would’ve won another term, ruining Biden’s chances of passing majority of his agenda.
Brad Raffensperger and Gabriel Sterling
Both Republicans, they are a part of the Georgia Secretary of State — the department that oversees elections in the State. They stood their ground when President Trump kept accusing the state of voter fraud. Some might say they don’t need to be thanked because it was their job they were doing. While true, it takes courage to come out and speak out against the president’s false claims, knowing very well it could impact the run-off elections. The two will always be respected for ensuring a fair election and standing up to a bully in public to protect his poll workers.
Brian Kemp
Brian Kemp is the Republican Governor of Georgia. During the 2016 United States Senate elections, incumbent Republican Johnny Isakson had won his 6 year term. However in 2019, Johny Isakson had resigned due to health concerns and the Kemp had appointed Kelly Leoffler to fill the seat vacated. Needless to say, Kelly Loeffler was a bad choice due to multiple reasons. Her incompetence made it very easy for Reverend Warnock to make his points clear and convince voters Loeffler was unfit for office.
Final Takeaway
What goes around comes around. Voter suppression tactics were used to undermine the mandate and rights of certain individuals. Now the ghost of suppression had haunted the suppressors when it mattered the most.
