Goodbye Mitch! In Momentous Georgia Election, Warnock Wins and Ossoff Has a Growing Lead
With most of the remaining votes to count in Democratic-leaning areas, it's becoming clear that both Democratic candidates, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, will win their Senate races in Georgia. Warnock's victory over Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler has already been called by several news organizations. Ossoff has a growing lead over GOP Sen. David Perdue, but it remains too close to call quite yet.
If both Democrats hold their leads, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will be turning his gavel over to Dem. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York. The Senate would be split 50-50, but Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would break ties in the chamber.
Over the coming weeks we will examine the impact of this change in control of the Senate. Democrats will be able to pass some progressive legislation, but moderates in the party like Joe Manchin of West Virginia have said they will oppose “crazy stuff” like expanding the Supreme Court and large tax hikes on the wealthy. Moreover, Joe Biden is a moderate and a consensus-builder at heart. Expect some solid gains on addressing climate change, reforming the criminal justice system, and expanding access to healthcare, but "Medicare for all" and "wealth taxes" aren't in the cards.
So, all those folks worried about "socialism" can just calm down.
By: Don Lam & Curated Content
Photo credit; Reverend Raphael Warnock