--- title: Why All Eyes in Washington Are on Georgia’s Senate Races description: If you want to know what the next two years in Washington will be like, watch the next two days in Georgia. canonical: https://time.com/5926168/georgia-senate-runoff/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-01-04T18:42:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:51:58.253Z article:section: Politics og:title: Why All Eyes in Washington Are on Georgia’s Senate Races og:description: If you want to know what the next two years in Washington will be like, watch the next two days in Georgia. og:url: https://time.com/5926168/georgia-senate-runoff/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1d729541c6dae10/698a15bcb3fce380860c787a/georgia-senate-race-vote.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Early Voting Georgia Senate Election, USA - 30 Dec 2020 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why All Eyes in Washington Are on Georgia’s Senate Races twitter:description: If you want to know what the next two years in Washington will be like, watch the next two days in Georgia. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1d729541c6dae10/698a15bcb3fce380860c787a/georgia-senate-race-vote.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why All Eyes in Washington Are on Georgia’s Senate Races ## Video: President Trump, in Recorded Call, Urged Georgia Election Official to ‘Find’ Votes to Overturn Biden’s Win [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump, in Recorded Call, Urged Georgia Election Official to ‘Find’ Votes to Overturn Biden’s Win](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KJbvmIGf.m3u8) (1:21)  _Published 2021-01-04. President Donald Trump pressured Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state’s presidential election, repeatedly citing disproven claims of fraud ._  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Jan 4, 2021 6:42 PM UTC  Voters wait in line to vote early in the Georgia senate special election in Fulton County on Dec. 30, the final day of early voting in the county, at the Ponce de Leon Branch Library in Atlanta. Voters wait in line to vote early in the Georgia senate special election in Fulton County on Dec. 30, the final day of early voting in the county, at the Ponce de Leon Branch Library in Atlanta.Nathan Posner—Shutterstock  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Jan 4, 2021 6:42 PM UTC _This article is part of the The DC Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletter%5Fopt-in?qs=3a19a0aa35903a2d9f214b74f69a37910b58de73cf3f2b89adc123fac024f0478c72f91010ae9d01f08f46c616068cab3e74726837cd2cce70dac3796e46c2b4) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox every weekday._ If you want to know what the next two years in Washington will be like, watch the next two days in Georgia. Tomorrow**,** voters in Georgia will decide if twin incumbent Republicans will keep their jobs in the Senate. If Democrats can win both seats, their party will have a majority in the Senate and incoming President-elect Joe Biden will inherit a much friendlier landscape to govern come Jan. 20\. If Republicans retain even one of the two seats, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will keep his gavel — and President Donald Trump will inevitably [claim](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-knows-no-limits-as-he-tries-to-overturn-the-election/2021/01/03/e192bf90-4e05-11eb-83e3-322644d82356%5Fstory.html) that he saved the party and still has the juice to mount a comeback in 2024. Trump lost Georgia in his own race by just under 12,000 votes. So far, he appears incapable of accepting that reality. In audio obtained by The Washington Post’s Amy Gardner, Trump is [heard](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-raffensperger-call-georgia-vote/2021/01/03/d45acb92-4dc4-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555%5Fstory.html) cajoling and threatening Georgia’s top elections officials over the weekend, demanding they come up with enough votes to give him the win he believes he earned. “Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break,” Trump says in what sounds like a shakedown from a bad mob boss in a B-movie. Trump is heading back to the state this afternoon for a rally for two reasons. One, to get in a last [shot](https://time.com/5926038/trump-georgia-recorded-call/) at fellow Republicans who say the President simply didn’t have enough votes to win. Nothing animates Trump like a grievance, regardless of fact or party. And two, to rally behind the Republican candidates who have embraced All Things MAGA in an election the President has repeatedly told supporters is rigged. Neither will motivate middle-of-the-road voters in the [suburbs](https://time.com/5923106/georgia-suburb-election-video/) who may have begrudgingly voted for Trump in November but are now weary of his antics. And that’s the rub for Republicans. The GOP has historically prevailed when Georgia races go to runoffs. The system, a [vestige](https://www.vox.com/21551855/georgia-ossoff-perdue-loeffler-warnock-runoff-election-2020-results) of the Jim Crow era, explicitly [serves](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/14/us/politics/georgia-runoffs-senate-control.html) Republican advantages because Black voters have [historically](https://www.nps.gov/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/upload/CivilRights%5FVotingRights.pdf) not shown up for the second round of balloting for a variety of reasons. But Trump is simultaneously [asserting](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/01/us/politics/trump-georgia-senate.html) the first round of balloting was marred by cheating, the second round probably will be just as bad, and that Perdue and Loeffler need support from the voters he is urging to be skeptical. It’s a contradiction not unusual in the Trump era, but one that is decidedly unhelpful for the GOP in that era’s final gasps. Democrats have readily seized on this [fracture](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/loeffler-perdue-georgia-senate-runoffs-gop/2021/01/03/5323071e-4dde-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555%5Fstory.html) in the Republican Party. If ever there were gloves here, it seems they’re now missing in action. While Biden kept his campaign aspirational and upbeat, the Democratic machine on the ground in Georgia has joined the Republicans for the [gut punches](https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/31/politics/ossoff-loeffler-kkk-fact-check/index.html). Candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have repeatedly cast their rivals as Trump henchmen, marching with a man who in 15 days will be ushered from office. Democratic visitors have done the same, including Vice President-elect Kamala Harris during a stop on Sunday, who hammered Trump for his phone call a day earlier to Atlanta and urged voters to give Democrats a repeat of what they saw in November. “When we vote, we win,” she said in Savannah. Biden is due to arrive this afternoon. The Republicans candidates, for their part, have done little to shield themselves from the perception that they’re Trumpistas. During the final run-up to the end of voting on Tuesday, the headlines coming from Washington have been about Trump’s [fight](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/03/us/politics/trump-raffensperger-call-georgia.html) with Georgia Republicans, his [demands](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/02/congress-adjourns-no-success-increased-stimulus-checks/4109692001/) for $2,000 stimulus checks from [Congress](https://time.com/5925606/2000-dollars-senate-vote-covid19-relief/) — branded as “[socialism](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/31/lindsey-graham-mcconnell-separate-vote-2-000-checks-453015)” by McConnell at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue — and his support for Republican lawmakers [looking](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/02/cruz-johnson-9-other-gop-senators-say-they-will-not-vote-certify-electors-unless-audit-is-conducted/) for [tomfoolery](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senators-challenge-election/2021/01/02/81a4e5c4-4c7d-11eb-a9d9-1e3ec4a928b9%5Fstory.html) when Congress certifies the electoral college’s vote on Wednesday. In terms of tone, Perdue and Loeffler have stuck by Trump, looking to stay in his good graces. Their tactic may be the new model for the GOP, for at least the next two years, should either or both Republicans win. Deference to Trump and his burn-it-down politics may be what it takes to placate a man who, even in loss, won 74 million votes in November and brought many newcomers into democracy. The results may be messy, but maybe this is a more accurate representation of this country than many realized. Or, if Democrats pull off the inside-straight two-pronged win, an altogether different path may lie ahead for Republicans. With the Trump era is over, Perdue and Loeffler could be its latest collateral damage. More may fall if they aren’t cautious. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the daily D.C. Brief newsletter._](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/politics?source=dc%5Farticle) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5926168/georgia-senate-runoff/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5926168/georgia-senate-runoff/"},"headline":"Why All Eyes in Washington Are on Georgia’s Senate Races","datePublished":"2021-01-04T18:42:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:51:58.253Z","description":"If you want to know what the next two years in Washington will be like, watch the next two days in Georgia.","url":"https://time.com/5926168/georgia-senate-runoff/","keywords":["The D.C. 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