Dem Ossoff Takes Lead In 1 Georgia Senate Seat After Dem Warnock Wins Other

Democrats on the verge of taking effective control of the Senate following a pair of run-off elections in the southern state of Georgia.

• Democrat Raphael Warnock has been projected by a number of outlets as winning the special election, defeating incumbent Republican interim Senator Kelly Loeffler.
• In the other election, in which Democrat Jon Ossoff is contesting the seat of incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue, Ossoff has recently taken the lead (50.1% to 49.9%).
• The counties still waiting to report (DeKalb, Fulton, Chatham counties), are historically strong Democrat counties at present the outlook is good for Ossoff.
• However, the vote remains too close to call. Of 4,397, 358 votes counted so far, Ossoff's lead currently stands at 12,806. Perdue may be reliant in winning a huge number of the military ballots cast (17k in total), but even this may not be enough to give him victory.
• Should the margin between Ossoff and Perdue remain below 0.5% come the end of the count, the losing candidate will be legally entitled to request a recount under state law, prolonging the counting period further.
• As noted in previous bullets this morning, should the Democrats take both seats it will give the party of President Elect Joe Biden effective control of the Senate, with VP Elect Kamala Harris to have the casting vote.