Biden to Campaign for Democrats in Senate Runoffs for the First Time in Georgia

President-Elect Biden Introduces Nominee For Secretary Of Defense General Lloyd Austin

(Photo : Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE - DECEMBER 09: U.S. President-elect Joe Biden (L) announces U.S. Army (retired) General Lloyd Austin (R) as his choice to be Secretary of the Department of Defense at the Queen Theater December 09, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. The only African-American to have headed U.S. Central Command, Lloyd, 67, is a four-star general who was in charge of American forces in Iraq from 2010 to late 2011.

Joe Biden, Democratic presidential candidate, is heading to Georgia for the first time since the November 3 presidential election to campaign for two Democrats who aim to dethrone Republican Senate incumbents in the runoff elections. He will travel to Atlanta on December 15.

Biden to Campaign For Democrats in Senate Runoffs

To determine the control of the Senate, Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are making efforts to defend their seats against Democratic challengers Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff respectively. Early voting begins on Monday and ends on January 5.

Republicans need one position for a Senate majority whereas Democrats need both to make Vice President-elect Kamala Harris break the tie.

President Donald Trump used a weekend protest in Georgia's Valdosta to persuade supporters to turn out for Loeffler and Perdue.

Vice President Mike Pence is slated to return on Thursday to Valdosta for a demonstration.

Georgia has been a Republican stronghold for a long time but may be on the road to swing state status, especially after Joe Biden became the first Democratic presidential nominee since Bill Clinton in 1992 to carry the state of Georgia.

Ossoff is Jewish and faces Republican Senator Perdue. Warnock, who has faced backlash from some conservatives for remarks regarded as anti-Israel faces Loeffler, reported The Times of Israel.

The runoff elections could decide the balance of power in the Senate. The fate of the Biden's Cabinet and his governing agenda rests on the runoff elections, reported NBC News.

According to the Biden team's brief announcement, he will campaign on behalf Ossoff, Warnock, and the Democratic ticket. The team stated it will disclose additional details later.

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The Senate comprises of 50 Republicans and 48 members who caucus with Democrats. If both challengers won, Democrat vice presidential nominee Harris could break ties in favor of Biden's priorities.

Biden's trip to Atlanta on Tuesday is timed to transpire simultaneously with the beginning of early voting in Georgia on Monday.

Aside from a brief trip on Veterans Day to Philadelphia, Biden has not left Delaware, his home state.

According to President Donald Trump's campaign manager Bill Stepien in a statement, "Joe Biden's trip to Georgia next week proves that Democrats are taking the Senate runoff elections seriously and so should Republicans," reported The Epoch Times.

Voting for the runoffs has already commenced with over one million people requesting absentee or mail-in ballots.

Biden made two campaign stops in Georgia in the presidential campaign's last week.

Biden is slated to nominate Katherine Tai to be the top United States trade envoy, according to two people aware of his plans.

Biden is naming Susan Rice as the White House Domestic Policy Council Director, giving her power over his potential administration's approach to health care, immigration, and racial inequality and elevating the eminence of the position in the West Wing.

This move marks an unexpected shift for Rice, a longtime Democratic foreign policy expert who was formerly President Barack Obama's national security adviser and United Nations ambassador.