Joe Biden and Kamala Harris returning to Georgia ahead of runoff elections
Washington — President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will head to Georgia to campaign for Democratic Senate candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff just before voters head to the polls January 5 for the pair of runoff elections.
Mr. Biden will travel to Atlanta to stump for the two Democrats on Monday, January 4, his campaign announced. The president-elect's visit will coincide with President Trump's own trip to the state for a rally in Dalton in support of Republican incumbent Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
Harris, meanwhile, will campaign on behalf of Ossoff and Warnock in Savannah on Sunday, January 3.
The upcoming visits to Georgia will be the second trips for both Mr. Biden and Harris to boost support for the Democrat hopefuls ahead of the runoff elections.
The January 5 contests have brought both the president-elect and the outgoing president back to the campaign trail, as the outcomes of the runoffs will determine which party controls the Senate. Republicans will begin the next Congress with control of 50 Senate seats, and wins by Perdue and Loeffler will expand their majority. But if Warnock and Ossoff both unseat the Republican incumbents, the Senate will be split 50-50, and Harris will cast tie-breaking votes. Democrats maintained their hold on the House.
The Senate races, and their high stakes, have brought money pouring into Georgia. Ossoff raked in $107 million between October 15 and December 15, making him the best-funded Senate candidate of all time.
Early voting began December 14, and as of Monday, more than 2.3 million Georgia voters have cast ballots during this period, with 1.5 million voting in-person and another 800,000 by mail.