U.S. Senate Democratic nominee Jon Ossoff urges support for the Affordable Care Act at a rally outside the State Capitol in Atlanta on Nov. 10, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
Georgia health-care advocates and Democratic leaders including U.S. Senate nominee Jon Ossoff rallied Tuesday to support the Affordable Care Act as the U.S. Supreme Court took up a Republican-backed lawsuit aimed at striking down the law.
The lawsuit, which Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has joined as a plaintiff, seeks to have the 2010 health-care law overturned on grounds it can no longer require people to have insurance through the so-called individual mandate, which Congress watered down in 2017 by repealing a tax tied to coverage.
Ossoff, an investigative journalist, has made backing the law and its protections for persons with pre-existing health conditions a central part of his campaign against Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue, who has several times voted against the law.
Ossoff and Georgia Democrats including Rev. Raphael Warnock, who is competing for the state’s other Senate seat against Sen. Kelly Loeffler, have framed Republicans’ support for the lawsuit as an attempt to strip health care from millions of Georgians in the middle of a viral pandemic.
At a rally outside the Georgia Capitol building in Atlanta Tuesday, Ossoff called Perdue’s stance on the health-care bill “a travesty” and signaled he plans to continue hammering the senator on health-care issues ahead of the closely-watched Jan. 5 runoff.
“This is not a matter of partisan politics,” Ossoff said. “This is a matter of the public interest.”
Perdue, a former corporate executive seeking a second six-year term in the Senate, has previously dismissed claims he does not support insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions, arguing he has backed legislation to expand those protections. He argues the law drove up health-care costs and limited insurance options.
On Tuesday, Perdue’s campaign argued Ossoff favors a “socialized health-care plan” that could increase costs and reduce local hospitals’ workforces and facilities.
“Senator Perdue always has and always will support protecting health care for those with pre-existing conditions, period,” said the campaign’s communication’s director, John Burke.
Both Perdue and Loeffler voted against a Democrat-sponsored bill last month that would prohibit the U.S. Department of Justice from arguing against the health-care law in court.
Carr has echoed other Republican attorneys general and officials in calling the health-care law passed during former President Barack Obama’s administration an “overt form of federal overreach” that should be scrapped.
The law’s supporters argue that while not perfect, it provides essential protections for pre-existing conditions and coverage for services like vaccines that will become crucial in the coming months as COVID-19 vaccines are approved and made widely available.
“Every Georgian, whether they know it or not, benefits from the standards and protections that have been put in place by the Affordable Care Act,” said Laura Colbert, executive director of the nonprofit Georgians for a Healthy Future.
A ruling by the high court may not arrive for several months.
Meanwhile, the Perdue-Ossoff and Loeffler-Warnock runoff races have put Georgia in the national political spotlight with control of the U.S. Senate potentially hanging in the balance. Big campaign donations and high-profile backers from both parties are expected to blanket the state before Jan. 5.
Wins for both Ossoff and Warnock in the runoffs would likely tip the Senate in Democrats’ favor along with control of the U.S. House and the presidency, clearing the way for President-elect Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers to enact their priorities with little resistance for at least the next two years.
Ossoff and Warnock, the senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, have sought to fix health care and insurance coverage as the campaign’s top issues, while Perdue and Loeffler have focused on casting their Democratic opponents’ priorities and backgrounds as too extreme for Georgia.
Eager to paint their opponents as too cozy with socialism, Perdue has noted a Hong Kong media company’s past purchase of one of Ossoff’s films and Loeffler on Tuesday highlighted a New York church where Warnock worked as a junior staff member that hosted Cuba’s Fidel Castro in 1995.
Perdue and Loeffler stirred controversy this week in pressing for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, to resign following the Nov. 3 presidential election as state election officials continue brushing aside unproven claims of ballot fraud made by President Donald Trump.
Early voting for the Senate runoff elections starts Dec. 14. The deadline for Georgia voters to register for the runoff is Dec. 7.
U.S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler (left) and David Perdue (right), both Republicans from Georgia, are campaigning to hold their seats in runoff elections on Jan. 5, 2021. (Photos by Beau Evans)
U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, both Republicans in tight runoff races to hold their seats, called on Georgia’s Republican secretary of state Monday to resign as state election officials continued brushing aside unproven claims of ballot fraud.
The joint call from Perdue and Loeffler came shortly after the top elections manager in Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office dismissed a string of theories on ballot harvesting and computer glitches that President Donald Trump’s allies floated recently to sow doubt in Georgia’s election results.
As of Monday afternoon, President-elect Joe Biden maintained a lead over Trump in Georgia of about 10,600 votes, leaving the state on the cusp of flipping to a Democratic presidential nominee for the first time since 1992. State officials have until Nov. 20 to certify the election results and a recount is also likely.
In a joint statement, Perdue and Loeffler called Raffensperger’s management of the election “an embarrassment” that lacked “transparency and uniformity in the counting process.” Without citing any evidence of fraud or improper ballot counting, the two senators pressed Raffensperger to resign.
“We believe when there are failures, they need to be called out – even when it’s in your own party,” Perdue and Loeffler’s statement read. “There have been too many failures in Georgia elections this year and the most recent election has shined a national light on the problems.”
In a long response statement, Raffensperger said he understood “emotions are running high” but that Georgia’s elections had run smoothly despite slow results and issues in some counties. He called the senators’ claims on transparency “laughable” and said if any illegal votes were found in the coming weeks, they would not likely change the election results.
“As a Republican, I am concerned about Republicans keeping the U.S. Senate,” Raffensperger said. “I recommend that Senators Loeffler and Perdue state focusing on that.”
Earlier on Monday, the state’s election system manager, Gabriel Sterling, during a news conference debunked claims of ballot harvesting or ballot tampering with specific explanations for how some temporary counting discrepancies resulted from human error, not software glitches or partisan sabotage.
Sterling, who is a Republican, has held multiple news conferences – often twice a day – since the Nov. 3 election to update the public on the ballot-counting process in Georgia and to outline details of issues seen in some counties, which he said were expected in a high-turnout election and quickly fixed.
“The facts are the facts, regardless of outcomes,” Sterling said Monday. “In Georgia, we had an actual, accurate outcome.”
Sterling acknowledged that investigators may uncover double-votes or other illegally cast ballots in the coming days as an audit of the results kicks off Wednesday – though it’s unlikely investigators would turn up enough improper ballots for Trump to bridge Biden’s lead, he said.
“Our job is to get it right for the voters and the people of Georgia, and for the people of the United States, to make sure the outcomes of this election are correct and trustworthy,” Sterling said. “And at the end of the day, no matter which side of the aisle you’re on, no matter which candidate you supported, you can have trust and believe in the outcome of these things.”
Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, also said Monday morning on CNN that Georgia officials “have not had any sort of credible incidents raised to our level yet” regarding voter fraud or improper ballot counting.
The runoff races between Perdue and Democratic nominee Jon Ossoff, and between Loeffler and Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock, have already thrust Georgia into the national political spotlight with control of the U.S. Senate potentially hanging in the balance.
Wins for both Ossoff and Warnock in the Jan. 5 runoffs would likely tip the Senate in Democrats’ favor along with control of the U.S. House and the presidency, clearing the way for Biden and Democratic lawmakers to enact their priorities with little resistance for at least the next two years.
Republican and Democratic leaders across the country are poised to pull out all the stops in Georgia with huge campaign donations and high-profile backers expected to arrive in the coming weeks.
While Democrats aim to build on momentum that appears to have swung the state for Biden, many Republican leaders have homed in on the integrity of the election to cast doubt on the overall ballot-counting process in Georgia and other states with tight races.
Notably, outgoing U.S. Rep. Doug Collins has signed on to lead the Trump campaign’s push for a recount, which can legally be requested since the vote margin between Trump and Biden in Georgia stands at less than 0.5%.
Collins, who finished third and out of the running for the January runoff against Loeffler, said in a statement Monday he feels “confident” his team will discover ballot harvesting and other issues in Georgia’s election but did not provide any evidence for why he feels that way.
Trump also took to Twitter shortly after Perdue and Loeffler’s joint statement Monday afternoon to claim he will win Georgia’s 16 electoral votes, despite the fact he is losing in the state.
ATLANTA – Georgia House Republicans renominated Speaker David Ralston Monday to another two-year term as the chamber’s leader and reelected their entire leadership team.
Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, has served as speaker since 2010. Voters in House District 7 in Northwest Georgia reelected Ralston last week with nearly 84% of the vote over his Democratic opponent.
The House Republican Caucus also renominated Rep. Jan Jones, R-Milton, to serve as speaker pro tempore.
Both Ralston and Jones are virtually assured keeping their jobs when the full General Assembly meets in January because Republicans held onto their House majority last week, although they suffered a net loss of two seats.
Meanwhile, the caucus reelected Rep. Jon Burns, R-Newington, to continue as House majority leader. Rep. Trey Kelley, R-Cedartown, will remain majority whip.
Rep. Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, will return as caucus chairman, with Rep. Micah Gravley, R-Douglasville, back as caucus vice chairman.
Rep. Bruce Williamson, R-Monroe, will continue serving as caucus secretary and treasurer.
The 2021 General Assembly session will begin on Jan. 11.
Two runoff races for U.S. Senate will be held in Georgia following close votes on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
All eyes are on Georgia as two potentially power-shifting U.S. Senate runoff races plowed on Monday and state election officials moved to tamp down unproven claims of ballot fraud from allies of President Donald Trump.
The runoff races between Republican Sen. David Perdue and Democratic nominee Jon Ossoff, and between Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock, are already attracting large donations and big-name backers ahead of a Jan. 5 runoff election.
Wins for both Ossoff and Warnock would likely tip the Senate in Democrats’ favor along with control of Congress and the presidency, clearing the way for President-elect Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers to enact their priorities with little resistance for at least the next two years.
With millions of dollars already in the bank, Ossoff and Warnock look to benefit from a flood of donations pouring into their campaigns and the fundraising group Fair Fight led by former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, which raised $6 million for the two Democratic campaigns over the weekend.
“Together, we have changed the course of our state for the better,” Abrams said on social media Monday. “But our work is not done.”
Also over the weekend, former U.S. presidential candidate and New York resident Andrew Yang announced he and his wife plan on moving to Georgia in order to help drum up Democratic turnout for the Ossoff and Warnock campaigns.
Despite the excitement, Democrats have a tough fight ahead to flip Georgia’s Senate seats. Biden’s lead over Trump remained a razor-thin roughly 10,600 votes Monday afternoon as both state and national Republicans rushed to bolster Perdue and Loeffler’s campaigns and galvanize Republican voter support.
National Republican leaders have latched onto comments Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., made shortly after news outlets called the presidency for Biden on Saturday, saying: “Now we take Georgia, then we change America.”
Echoing other Republican leaders, Perdue and Loeffler have used Schumer’s comments to cast Georgia as the last line of resistance against Democratic priorities on health care, criminal justice reform and climate change initiatives, which Republicans have called too radical.
On Monday, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., announced he plans to join Perdue and Loeffler for a joint rally in Cobb County this week, marking the first of what will likely be many high-profile political figures arriving in Georgia to muster support for the two competing teams of Senate contenders.
“Georgia is the firewall against the radical agenda of the far left,” Rubio said on social media Sunday.
The tug-of-war over Georgia’s Senate seats comes as many Republican leaders continue lobbing accusations – so far without evidence – of improper ballot counting in Georgia and other states with tight races that flipped for Biden.
In Georgia, outgoing U.S. Rep. Doug Collins has signed on to lead the Trump campaign’s push for a recount, which can legally be requested since the vote margin between Trump and Biden stands at less than 0.5%.
Collins, who finished third and out of the running for the January runoff against Loeffler, said in a statement announcing his new position that he feels “confident we will find evidence of improperly harvested ballots and other irregularities” during the recount.
Georgia election officials – including some Republicans – have rejected claims any recount or discovery of improperly cast ballots could sway the election as officials work to certify results and prepare for a recount in the coming weeks.
Gabriel Sterling, the state’s voting system manager, dismissed claims of ballot harvesting or ballot-tampering at a news conference Monday, noting a handful of counties including Fulton, Gwinnett and Spalding did see temporary counting discrepancies but that those have since been fixed.
“The facts are the facts, regardless of the outcome,” said Sterling, who is a Republican. “In Georgia, we had an actual, accurate outcome.”
Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, also said Monday morning on CNN that Georgia officials “have not had any sort of credible incidents raised to our level yet” regarding voter fraud or improper ballot counting.
President-elect Joe Biden campaigned at Warm Springs, Ga., last month. (Biden campaign video)
ATLANTA – The last time a non-incumbent Democrat won a statewide race in Georgia was 1998 when Roy Barnes was elected governor.
President-elect Joe Biden was closing in Saturday on ending that 22-year record of futility. Hours after Biden clinched the presidency by carrying his birth state of Pennsylvania, the Democratic challenger was leading President Donald Trump in the Peach State by a razor-thin margin of 7,248 votes, still too close to call.
But even if Biden ends up carrying Georgia, the 2020 election results leave Republicans poised to remain a strong force in a state that was reliably red for a generation.
Biden’s successful bid for the White House helped Georgia Democrats force runoffs against incumbent Republicans in two U.S. Senate races and a third runoff for a seat on the state Public Service Commission.
Democrats also retained a congressional seat in Atlanta’s northern suburbs held by Republicans for decades until 2018 and flipped another suburban seat vacated by a GOP incumbent.
But Biden’s coattails in Georgia weren’t long enough for Democrats to make much headway in the General Assembly. While many state House and Senate races were close, Democrats only scored a net gain of two House seats and one seat in the Senate, far short of what they needed to take control of either chamber.
“Republicans actually had a very good day on Tuesday,” said Kerwin Swint, a political science professor at Kennesaw State University. “Republicans have to look at the overall picture and feel fairly good.”
Swint said down-ballot Republican candidates in Georgia generally proved more popular than Trump because of the president’s character shortcomings.
“The Republican Party’s messaging policy-wise and platform was widely embraced by voters,” Swint said. “It just didn’t translate to the top of the ticket, most likely because of [Trump’s] personal appeal, or lack thereof.”
“Some share of Republican voters just couldn’t vote for Donald Trump,” added Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia. “Once they voted for Joe Biden, they voted for Republicans for Congress and the state legislature.”
While the Biden-Trump contest lifted the Democrats’ statewide ticket, 2020 was only the next step in a trend that has been building in Georgia.
Democrats were outvoted in Georgia by 200,000 votes in 2016. Two years later, Democrat Stacey Abrams lost the governor’s race to Republican Brian Kemp by 55,000 votes.
“Over two election cycles, the 200,000-vote margin Republicans have enjoyed has evaporated,” Bullock said. “It’s another step in what may be another realignment in Georgia to the Democratic Party.”
That realignment has been coming during the last decade with demographic changes in the makeup of Georgia’s electorate.
“This is a different state,” Democrat Jon Ossoff told supporters Friday during his first post-election news conference after forcing Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue into a Jan. 5 runoff. “Georgia has become younger and more diverse every day in the last decade.
“[With] the work that’s been done over the last 10 years, work done by people like Stacey Abrams … we’re now seeing change has come to Georgia.”
A dramatic example of the demographic changes occurred in Georgia’s 7th Congressional District, covering portions of Gwinnett and Forsyth counties, where Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux narrowly won an open seat long in Republican hands. Based on the findings of one poll, Asian Americans voted 62% to 36% for Bourdeaux.
“The story of [the district] is a story about first-time Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters and who is mobilizing them,” said Stephanie Cho, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta. “Grassroots community-based organizing matters and it works. More and more AAPIs are excited to be part of the process. This is the future of Georgia.”
The good news for Republicans is they continue to hold a narrow 8-6 advantage in Georgia’s congressional delegation. Also, the underperformance of Democrats in legislative races leaves the GOP in charge of reapportionment and redistricting, the redrawing of congressional and legislative districts that takes place every 10 years following the U.S. Census to adjust for population shifts.
The General Assembly will hold a special session next summer to make those changes.
“They’ll be in the driver’s seat,” Swint said. “They’ll have an opportunity to draw things the way they would like to see them.”
But Bullock said the demographic changes in Georgia that favor Democrats, particularly in Atlanta’s northern suburbs, will limit what Republicans can do with new district maps. GOP leaders may decide to sacrifice some of their incumbents in Atlanta’s inner suburbs in order to draw stronger Republican districts in the outer suburbs and exurban areas, he said.
“My assumption is they’ll look around the north side of metro Atlanta and say, ‘We can’t save these folks,’ ” Bullock said. “Democrats may come out with some gains, even though they don’t control redistricting.”
