Fragile ceasefire in Gaza: Egypt's intelligence chief visits Israel to advance peace process    Egypt, Qatar discuss Gaza aid, bilateral cooperation    Egypt, France agree to boost humanitarian aid, rebuild Gaza's health sector    Egypt implements 60% of 300 investment climate reforms: El-Khatib    AOI overhauls, repairs nitrogen fertilizer plant turbines for first time in Egypt    Egypt's SCZONE head meets with Toyota Tsusho, Tokyo officials on Japan tour    Egyptian junior and ladies' golf open to be held in New Giza, offers EGP 1m in prizes    EGX closes mixed on Oct. 21    The Survivors of Nothingness — Part Two    EGAS, Eni, TotalEnergies sign Cronos field handling agreement    Oil prices drop on Tuesday    Egypt discusses troop deployment to Somalia with foreign minister    Egypt's PM reviews efforts to remove Nile River encroachments    Health Minister reviews readiness of Minya for rollout of universal health insurance    Egypt strengthens ties with NEPAD at Aswan Forum    Sisi invites Egyptians to join Gaza reconstruction drive, citing shared humanity    Egypt screens 13.3m under presidential cancer detection initiative since mid-2023    Egypt launches official website for Grand Egyptian Museum ahead of November opening    The Survivors of Nothingness — Episode (I)    Al-Sisi: Cairo to host Gaza reconstruction conference in November    Egypt, WHO sign cooperation strategy to strengthen health system through 2028    Egypt successfully hosts Egyptian Amateur Open golf championship with 19-nation turnout    Africa can lead global recovery, Egypt's Sisi tells Aswan Forum    Egypt: Guardian of Heritage, Waiting for the World's Conscience    Egypt, Qatar sign MoU to boost cooperation in healthcare, food safety    Egypt will never relinquish historical Nile water rights, PM says    Al Ismaelia launches award-winning 'TamaraHaus' in Downtown Cairo revival    Al-Sisi, Burhan discuss efforts to end Sudan war, address Nile Dam dispute in Cairo talks    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile actions, calls for global water cooperation    Egypt unearths New Kingdom military fortress on Horus's Way in Sinai    Egyptian Open Amateur Golf Championship 2025 to see record participation    Syria releases preliminary results of first post-Assad parliament vote    Karnak's hidden origins: Study reveals Egypt's great temple rose from ancient Nile island    Egypt resolves dispute between top African sports bodies ahead of 2027 African Games    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Georgia on cusp of delivering Senate to Democrats as Warnock wins, Ossoff leads
Published in Ahram Online on 06 - 01 - 2021

Democrats won one U.S. Senate race in Georgia and led in another on Wednesday, moving closer to a surprise sweep in a former Republican stronghold that would give them control of Congress and greater power to advance President-elect Joe Biden's agenda.
Raphael Warnock, a Baptist preacher from Martin Luther King Jr.'s former church, beat Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler to become the first Black senator in the deep South state's history.
Jon Ossoff, a documentary filmmaker who at 33 would become the Senate's youngest member, also declared victory with a narrow lead over incumbent David Perdue, although media had yet to declare a winner in that race.
If upheld, the results would give Democrats narrow control of both chambers of Congress, making it easier to appoint liberal-leaning judges and advance legislative priorities from coronavirus relief to climate change when Biden takes office on Jan. 20.
“Georgia's voters delivered a resounding message yesterday: they want action on the crises we face and they want it right now,” Biden said in a statement. He said he would work with both parties to confirm key administration officials quickly.
That would amount to a final defeat for outgoing President Donald Trump, who stands to be the first U.S. president since 1932 to lose the White House and both chambers of Congress in a single term.
Trump held rallies for both Republican candidates, but overshadowed the campaign with false accusations that his own loss in the November presidential election in Georgia was tainted by fraud, repeatedly attacking Republican officials in the state.
With 98% of the vote counted, Warnock led Loeffler by 1.2 percentage points, roughly 54,000 votes, according to Edison Research. Ossoff led Perdue by more than 17,000 votes, just shy of a 0.5 percent threshold to avoid a recount. Most outstanding votes were from Democratic-leaning areas.
Winning both contests would hand Democrats narrow control of the Senate by creating a 50-50 split and giving Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote from Jan. 20. The party already has a thin majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Republicans would retain control of the Senate if they held on to at least one of the Georgia seats.
The campaign's final days were overshadowed by Trump's attempts to pressure Republican Georgia officials to “find” enough votes to overturn Biden's victory in the state, as well as his unfounded fraud accusations. “Rigged Election!” Trump declared on Twitter on Wednesday morning.
‘NOT A GREAT WAY TO TURN OUT YOUR VOTERS'
Some Republicans blamed Trump for the loss.
“It turns out that telling the voters that the election is rigged is not a great way to turn out your voters,” Senator Mitt Romney, one of Trump's few Republican critics in Congress, told reporters.
The election signaled a shift in the politics of Georgia and the wider deep South. At least 4.5 million voters participated, smashing earlier turnout figures for runoff races. Democrats have worked hard to increase turnout among Black voters, their most reliable supporters in the region.
In a video message, Warnock, whose Ebenezer Baptist Church is legendary in Georgia because of its role in the civil rights movement under King, recalled his humble upbringing as one of 12 children of a woman who worked in cotton fields.
“Because this is America, the 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else's cotton went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a United States senator,” he said.
Declaring victory, Ossoff said he looked forward “to serving you in the United States Senate with integrity, with humility, with honor”.
Both Republican senators, following Trump's lead, vowed to fight on. “We will mobilize every available resource and exhaust every legal recourse to ensure all legally cast ballots are counted,” Perdue said in a statement.
During the campaign, Republicans had painted Ossoff and Warnock as radicals who would pursue a hard-left agenda. That message failed to resonate with many white suburbanites who have increasingly abandoned the Republican party under Trump.
Trump's flailing efforts to overturn his own defeat move to Congress later on Wednesday, when Vice President Mike Pence is due to preside over the counting of electoral votes to certify Biden's victory.
Trump has called on Pence to throw out the results in states he narrowly lost, although Pence has no authority to do so. Some Republican lawmakers have said they will try to reject some state tallies, a move that stands no chance of success but which could force debate and drag out the certification process.
Trump's supporters plan to rally in the streets of Washington, with the city bracing for potential violence. Police banned the leader of a far-right group from the city and made several arrests as protests ramped up on Tuesday. Trump is due to address the crowd.


Clic here to read the story from its source.