President Obama, John Legend cut new ad for Jon Ossoff

Former President Obama and singer John Legend cut a new ad for Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff ahead of his Senate runoff.

The minutelong ad, featuring Obama discussing the stakes of the election over music played by Legend, marks the latest attempt by the former president to lend his star power to Democrats’ efforts to flip Georgia’s two Senate seats, both of which are being contested in runoffs next week.

“This year has tested America’s spirits. We’ve lost loved ones, faced injustice, struggled to make ends meet. But we kept at it. We looked out for each other. And when the moment came to reject fear and division and send a message for change, Georgia stepped up,” he said, appearing to reference President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the Peach State, the first win for a Democratic presidential nominee there since 1992.

“Now, America is counting on you again. You can send Jon Ossoff to the Senate to beat this virus and rebuild our economy, to make sure everybody can afford health care, to carry the torch John Lewis passed to us with a new Voting Rights Act that secures equal justice for all. Georgia, you have the power. And now it’s time to vote,” Obama said.

The ad is part of the Democrats’ full court press in Georgia, where the two Senate runoffs will decide which party controls the Senate in the next Congress.

Ossoff is currently running to unseat Sen. David Perdue (R), while the Rev. Raphael Warnock is running against Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R). The two races went to runoffs after no candidate in either contest hit the 50 percent threshold in the November general elections. 

Republicans currently hold a 50-48 Senate majority in the next Congress, but Democrats will narrowly hold the chamber if they win both seats, given that Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be able to cast tie-breaking votes. 

Hundreds of millions of dollars in outside spending has already been dropped in the races as Democrats and Republicans blitz Georgia with ads. 

Harris is set to campaign in Georgia this coming Sunday, while Biden is set to rally there Monday, the day before the two runoffs. 

Obama earlier this month appeared in three campaign ads for Warnock.