Voters split on candidates in Georgia Senate runoffs: poll

The first major poll from Georgia since the two Senate runoff races were announced shows both races in a dead heat.

Kansas-based Remington Research Group released a poll on Thursday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, showing Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock statistically tied at 49 to 48 points with a 2.6 point margin of error. The same polling data showed Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) ahead of Democrat Jon Ossoff by 4 points, 50 to 46 points.

The two senate races have become of great national interest as the outcome of these elections will likely determine which party controls the Senate for the next few years.

According to projections from The Associated Press, the Republican party only needs two more seats to maintain its current majority in the senate. If Democrats manage to flip the two seats, they would have a majority due to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris having the deciding vote as president of the Senate.

The once reliably red state made a surprising flip this election when it was projected to go to President-elect Joe Biden. This is the first time the state has voted blue since former President Clinton was elected in 1992. On Wednesday, a hand recount of the election was announced.

In a joint statement, Loeffler and Purdue called for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to resign on Monday claiming he had failed to deliver “honest and transparent elections.” 

Raffensperger rejected such calls saying, “The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me.”

As the Journal-Constitution notes, many big-name politicians are making their way down to Georgia to support their respective party candidates in the runoff race. GOP leaders have called on President Trump to focus his support on Georgia and Vice President Pence reportedly told GOP senators he would be traveling to the Peach State next week.