Related video: Georgia election official debunks one Trump conspiracy theory after another
Democrat Jon Ossoff has declared victory in his Georgia Senate runoff against Republican incumbent David Perdue, a result that delivers the upper chamber of Congress back into the hands of his party, following on from Baptist pastor Raphael Warnock’s stunning win over Kelly Loeffler in the early hours of the morning.
Mr Ossoff, 33, becomes the youngest man to enter the Senate since president-elect Joe Biden did so himself in 1973 while Reverend Warnock becomes the state’s first black senator and only the second black senator elected to represent a former Confederate state. The development has been hailed as “the dawning of a new day” by Bernice King, daughter of slain civil rights leader Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
Their wins mean that both parties have 50 senators each, leaving the deciding vote in legislative matters with vice president-elect Kamala Harris and seeing Mitch McConnell deposed as majority leader, a disastrous end to the Donald Trump administration for the Republican Party.
BREAKING: Militia members are gathering outside the Georgia Capitol
Militia members are gathering around the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta, as Pro-Trump rioters are attempting to take matters into their own hands and prevent Congress in DC from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral college win.
The Independent’s Gustaf Kilander is following the story as it unfolds.
Militia members
As rioters storm US Capitol building in DC, militia members gather around Georgia Capitol
Justin Vallejo6 January 2021 20:19
Governor Brian Kemp leave Georgia Capitol over safety concerns, reports
This from Kemp spox Cody Hall, via WSJ reporter Cameron McWhirter.
Justin Vallejo6 January 2021 20:12
Georgia Capitol evacuated as militia gather, reports
This via Washington Post reporter Amy Gardner, who said secretary of state Brad Raffensperger and senior staff have been escorted to safety.
Justin Vallejo6 January 2021 20:03
Actor Jim Carey comments on Georgia
It is unclear, however, what The Mask actor is SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSMOKIN’! in this undecipherable comment on Sesame Street’s Count Dracula talking to Trump
Justin Vallejo6 January 2021 19:50
Georgia results could pave way for quick additional US pandemic support, analysts
The odds-on Democratic victory in two US Senate races on Tuesday could open the door to the more robust government spending response economists and others have argued is needed to get the country through the pandemic with as little long-term economic damage to companies and households as possible.
“We have an opportunity to really move something that can revive the economy and put a stop to the virus,” said William Spriggs, the chief economist with the AFL-CIO who served in the Labor Department under President Obama.
Between aid for local government and possible further help for families and businesses, economists have estimated that perhaps another trillion dollars of support could hit the economy in the first part of the year, a boost to spending and a downpayment on filling the gap in U.S. output caused by the worst economic downturn in decades.
“We assume an additional $1 trillion of stimulus in the next few months…This will close the output gap roughly 4-6 quarters” faster than expected, analysts from Jefferies wrote. That could shift the economy’s fortunes enough for the Fed to start raising interest rates by early 2023 instead of in the following year, as currently anticipated. – Reuters
Justin Vallejo6 January 2021 19:35
Georgia Democrat Vernon Jones announces switch to Republican
The Trump-supporting Georgia state representative announced on Twitter he officially joined the GOP.
“Now more than ever, the Republican Party is in desperate need of leaders that know how to fight. I know how to fight,” he said.
Justin Vallejo6 January 2021 19:20
Biden calls both Warnock and Ossoff to congratulate on wins
“Georgia voters delivered a resounding message yesterday: they want action on the crises we face and they want it right now. Together, we’ll get it done,” Biden said in a tweet
Justin Vallejo6 January 2021 19:05
Jon Ossoff’s wife Alisha Kramer missed his historic win to work in hospital
Dr Alisha Kramer, the wife of Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff spent election night at the hospital instead of following the results with her husband and the campaign as he declared victory.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution political reporter Patricia Murphy got the news from the campaign.
“I want to thank my wonderful wife Alisha who as we speak is at the hospital helping Georgia mothers deliver healthy babies, helping save lives,” Mr Ossoff said in his victory speech, which was streamed live on YouTube on Wednesday morning.
The Independent’s Gustaf Kilander reports.
Justin Vallejo6 January 2021 18:55
Meanwhile, at the Trump’s rally in DC the president suggest talks about his ‘great’ Georgia phone call
“Georgia! Your secretary of state, who I can’t believe this guy’s a Republican. He loves recording telephone conversations,” Trump said.
“I thought it was a great conversation personally, so did a lot of other, people loved that conversation because it said what’s going on. These people are crooked. They’re 100 per cent, in my opinion, one of the most corrupt. Between your governor and your secretary of state. And now you have it again last night, just take a look at what happened what a mess.”
Justin Vallejo6 January 2021 18:40
Obama invokes John Lewis and Stacy Abrams in in Georgia runoff results
Barack Obama thanks Georgians for carrying the baton of the civil rights legend to deliver Democrats control of the Senate.
“My friend John Lewis is surely smiling down on his beloved Georgia this morning, as people across the state carried forward the baton that he and so many others passed down to them,” he said in a tweet.
“And while we’re still waiting on final results in the other runoff, it’s clear that last night’s showing, alongside President-Elect Biden’s November victory in Georgia, is a testament ot the power of the tireless and often unheralded work of grassroots organizing and the resilient, visionary leadership of Stacy Abrams.”
Justin Vallejo6 January 2021 18:24