Georgia U.S. Senate Race: Perdue, Ossoff Could Face Runoff
U.S. Sen. David Perdue has fallen below the 50% mark in Georgia. If this holds, he will face Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff in a runoff.
ACROSS GEORGIA — U.S. Sen. David Perdue has fallen below the 50-percent mark in Georgia as of Thursday. If this holds, he will face Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff in a Jan. 5 runoff. As of 1 p.m. Thursday, Perdue leads Ossoff by 11,138 votes, according to the latest polling results. Currently, 47.71 percent of voters have cast their ballots for Perdue's opponent, compared to his 49.98 percent. While the race is close, Perdue's Senate Campaign Manager Ben Fry believes his candidate will ultimately prove victorious. On Thursday, he released the following statement on the U.S. Senate race in Georgia: "There is one thing we know for sure: Senator David Perdue will be re-elected to the U.S. Senate and Republicans will defend the majority. Perdue will finish this election in first place with substantially more votes than his Democrat opponent. Currently, Perdue's lead is double the margin of defeat that Stacey Abrams faced for Governor just two years ago. If overtime is required when all of the votes have been counted, we're ready, and we will win. It is clear that more Georgians believe that David Perdue's positive vision for the future direction of our country is better than Chuck Schumer's radical, socialist agenda. There's only one candidate in this race who has ever lost a runoff, and it isn't David Perdue."
Ossoff's campaign manager Ellen Foster also released the following statement regarding a potential runoff early next year: "The votes are still being counted, but we are confident that Jon Ossoff's historic performance in Georgia has forced Senator David Perdue to continue defending his indefensible record of unemployment, disease, and corruption. When a runoff is called and held in January, Georgians are going to send Jon to the Senate to defend their health care and put the interests of working families and small businesses ahead of corporate lobbyists. Georgians are sick and tired of the endless failure, incompetence, and corruption of Senator Perdue and Donald Trump." The other Georgia Senate seat between Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Raphael Warnock already appears headed to a runoff next year. Both were the only two candidates to advance from Tuesday's election, with both candidates failing to pass the 50 percent threshold necessary to avoid a runoff. Both races could play an important role in the makeup of the new U.S. Senate; however, it appears Republicans are likely to keep their majority.
https://patch.com/georgia/across-ga/georgia-u-s-senate-race-perdue-ossoff-could-face-runoff