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Democrat Jon Ossoff was declared the winner of Georgia’s Senate runoff against Republican incumbent David Perdue, according to several media reports on Wednesday. The victory gives Democrats 51 seats in the U.S. Senate, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote in the chamber.
Ossoff, 33, will be the youngest sitting senator and the first Jewish Senator from Georgia.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will replace GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as majority leader and will determine which bills come to the floor for votes.
A lot of ambitious proposals including addressing climate change and healthcare overhaul will be a difficult task to advance. Instead, Biden and the Democrats need to consider a set of priorities with 60 votes needed to advance bills. The president-elect along with both Ossoff and his newly-elected colleague, Raphael Warnock, has indicated immediate support for additional coronavirus relief as a top concern. Biden also plans to unveil an infrastructure plan within his first 100 days in office that could get support from some Republicans.
Warnock defeated Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler by a 53,000-vote margin in the other Senate runoff race in Georgia. The pastor at the famed Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, will become the first black Senator to represent the Peach State.
All of this coming on the same day a joint session of Congress convened in Washington, D.C. to affirm the Electoral College vote and certify Biden as the 46th President of the United States. That process was thwarted by thousands of protesters storming the U.S. Capitol in support of President Trump.
