Road to runoff elections begins in Georgia with control of Senate at stake

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — The road to the runoff started this week and all eyes are on Georgia with control of the Senate at stake.

Senators from Capitol Hill, including both from Florida, started to visit the Peach State this week to rally support in the two runoff races that will determine which party holds the majority in next year’s Senate.

Republican Sen. David Perdue is being challenged by Democrat Jon Ossoff. Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who was sworn in earlier this year after being appointed by the governor to fill the shoes of retired Sen. Johnny Isakson, is being challenged by Reverend Raphael Warnock.

“We gotta make sure we win,” Florida Sen. Rick Scott said. “Keep the Republican majority so we stop the socialist agenda.”

The Florida Republican hit the campaign trail on Friday on behalf of his GOP colleagues in Georgia. Fellow Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio stumped for Loeffler and Perdue earlier in the week.

“I think you’re gonna continue to see that momentum and those people come in across the country because they realize what’s at stake,” Loeffler’s Communications Director Stephen Lawson said.

The current status of the Senate is 50 Republicans and 48 Democrats. That means Georgia is the deciding factor on where the power lies come 2021.

“The biggest item on Mitch McConnell’s mind is how to win those two Georgia seats,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said.

Merkley says McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, is laser-focused on keeping that job title.

Money from national Republican and Democratic organizations is expected to pour into the campaigns.

“It will get a lot of attention like no other special election that I can remember,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said.

Sen. Brown says President-Elect Joe Biden’s current lead in Georgia is a good sign for Democratic challengers Ossoff and Warnock.

“Clearly the people of Georgia – they voted for Joe Biden, in a surprise perhaps, but the state of Georgia is changing,” Brown said.

The state began a hand-counted audit on Friday. The two run-off elections are less than two months away.