President-elect Joe Biden will travel to Georgia to support Democrats in tough Senate run-off races, according to incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain.
“I think you’ll see the president-elect campaign down there as we get closer to election day. We’re going to put people, money, resources down there to help our two good candidates win,” Klain told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.
Georgia’s Senate run-offs are pivotal to determining who has control of the Senate.
Republicans have a 50 to 48 seat advantage over Democrats, as the balance of power stands after this month’s contests. If Democratic filmmaker Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock oust Republican incumbent Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler on Jan. 5, respectively, the parties will have 50 seats apiece. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris could then be called on to cast a deciding vote if a tiebreaker is needed.
On Sunday, Klain was adamant Biden’s liberal policy agenda didn’t hinge on having a Democratic Senate majority. For Klain, Biden earned a bipartisan mandate by winning the election, a statement President Trump disputes as he awaits the outcomes of legal challenges to the results.
“It will certainly be helpful to win those seats in Georgia, but we’re not going to let anything deter us from moving forward with our agenda,” the incoming White House chief of staff said.
Klain’s claims to a Biden mandate have been undermined by Trump’s refusal to concede and Democratic disappointments in a raft of House and Senate races. The party failed to expand its majority in the House and didn’t seize control of the Senate, despite expectations it would.
Biden would be staking a slice of his political capital by campaigning in Georgia. He risks Republicans spinning any defeats as a referendum on the president-elect after many GOP officials declined to recognize the election results, following Trump’s lead amid his campaign’s lawsuits.
This cycle’s dynamics echo the 1992 season when former President Bill Clinton won the state of Georgia. It was the last time Georgia backed a Democrat at the presidential level since Biden’s apparent victory there this year. Clinton’s triumph was followed by then-Democratic Sen. Wyche Fowler Jr. losing his reelection run-off to Republican businessman Paul Coverdell because Democratic turnout dropped off.
While the 2020 run-offs will be close, particularly with the potential for Georgia to pick its first black senator in Warnock, the Republican candidates are anticipated to return to Capitol Hill, given the GOP’s historical success in run-offs.
