With all eyes trained on Georgia, where the fate of the U.S. Senate—and, by extension, Joe Biden’s presidency—will be decided on January 5, organizers on the ground are taking nothing for granted. Georgia Democrats will reportedly go door-to-door to speak to voters in person, a reversal after the Democratic Party halted in-person canvassing earlier this year due to COVID-19. According to Politico, the initiative is a coordinated effort between the campaigns of Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock and follows “strict health guidelines created in consultation with an epidemiologist.” Some of the protocols reportedly include wearing a mask at all times, stepping six feet back from doors before anyone answers, and using hand sanitizer after coming into contact with surfaces. Volunteers are also expected to “affirm that they are free of any symptoms and have not been in contact with anyone suspected or confirmed of being positive for COVID-19 before their shifts.”
The decision speaks to the stratospheric stakes in the runoff races between Ossoff and Warnock, and incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. (Loeffler is currently quarantining due to inconclusive test results after possible exposure to COVID-19.) As Democrats go on the offensive, Republicans, too, are moving quickly. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has reportedly sent more than a dozen staff members to assist Perdue and Loeffler’s campaigns, and Senator Lindsey Graham’s campaign donated $1 million to the NRSC intended to boost both Georgia Republicans. In short, both sides are setting up for a blood bath.
On Democrats’ side, the calculation is that turnout will be crucial to eking out another pair of wins in the state. Several progressive organizations, including the Working Families Party and the New Georgia Project, have also brought back door-to-door canvassing after scaling back. “No one knows the risk more than we do,” New Georgia Project CEO Nse Ufot told Politico, referencing the disproportionate number of Black and brown people impacted by the virus, and whose votes have also been those most targeted by the current administration. “We also understand how important it is to make sure that voters show up in this moment.” Britney Whaley, a senior political strategist at the Working Families Party, told Politico that the group’s goal was to knock on 750,000 doors.
At the center of the conversation, among others, is Stacey Abrams, the former minority leader in Georgia’s House of Representatives, who has been widely recognized as one of the reasons the state turned blue. (Biden is the first Democratic candidate to win Georgia since 1992.) And Abrams said she remains optimistic that the Senate races will swing the same way. “This is a coalition that we’ve been building together for the last decade through groups like Asian-American advocacy funds, Black Lives Matter, Coalition for People’s Agenda, Mi Gente, Southerners on New Ground,” she told The New York Times. “This is a group that didn’t just come together out of convenience. We’ve been working together in coalition, and that’s why I think we can sustain it.” Abrams also highlighted how gerrymandering and voter suppression have led to the disenfranchisement of Black and brown voters—a reality that the Trump administration has aggressively tried to replicate in recent weeks.
As with the presidential race, the focus in Georgia seems liable to shift to election officials, whose efforts to ensure a free and fair election have incensed both the president and Republicans. On Monday, Georgia’s state election board, chaired by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, voted to extend the use of secure ballot drop boxes for both Senate races. Raffensperger in particular has come under fire from members of his own party for making it harder for Trump to steal the election. In the final gasp of the Trump presidency, he may face another wave of vitriol from the “one-term loser.”
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