Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff campaigned on helping to deliver on President Joe Biden’s agenda.
Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images
2021 was a so-called “off-year” for elections. In Georgia, though, it was anything but “off.”
The state cemented its spot at the center of the political universe, with control of the U.S. Senate in balance and the direction of the Republican Party at stake.
Here’s a look at how 2021 shaped Georgia politics and what that means for the new year.
Senate runoffs with national implications
Five days into 2021, the 2020 campaign was still kicking.
President Donald Trump had just been recorded on a call trying to pressure Georgia’s secretary of state to “find 11,780 votes” for him, and Georgia’s two U.S. Senate races were barreling toward runoffs. The results would decide which party controlled the U.S. Senate.
Well after midnight, news outlets called one race for Democrat Raphael Warnock. And in a virtual victory speech, he talked about his mom.
“The 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else’s cotton, went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a United States senator,” he said.
Democrats did not have much time to celebrate Warnock’s historic win. By midday on Jan. 6, TV cameras began turning to the scene unfolding at the U.S. Capitol, where pro-Trump rioters violently attempted to stop the electoral vote count.
One of Georgia’s U.S. House members, Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, helped lead the unsuccessful attempt by legislators in the House to deny Joe Biden’s electoral votes.
And as democracy hung by a thread in Washington — news out of Georgia. Democrat Jon Ossoff scored a narrow victory over incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue.
Democrats would take control of the U.S. Senate thanks to voters in Georgia, giving Biden the power to pass a pandemic relief bill and confirm his nominees.
Election integrity claims persist, redistricting cements GOP edge
The fallout from the 2020 election was not over in Georgia. Audits were conducted and no evidence of widespread fraud emerged. In response, Georgia Republicans pursued new election legislation.
In March, Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law new restrictive voting rules, like adding voter ID requirements for absentee ballots, banning people from handing out food and water to voters waiting in line and limiting where ballot drop boxes can go.
“There is no doubt there were many alarming issues with how the election was handled,” Kemp said. “And those problems understandably led to the crisis of confidence in the ballot box here in Georgia.”
Those new rules will govern the midterms ahead. New political maps will also shape those races.
Like the rest of the country, Georgia legislators this fall drew new maps for state legislative and congressional districts after the last census. Democrats and many voters of color accused Republican mapmakers of gerrymandering to ensure the GOP retained an edge, despite the state’s politically diversifying population.
Litigation from Democrats is expected.
2022 midterm matchups take shape
Warnock is up for reelection. So is Gov. Kemp. And as the year came to a close, people started to declare their candidacies for office, including Democrat Stacey Abrams, who said she’s running for governor again.
“That’s the job of governor, to fight for one Georgia. Our Georgia,” Abrams said in a video announcing her candidacy. “And now it’s time to get the job done.”
Days later, former Sen. David Perdue said he’d jump in the Republican primary for governor, backed by Trump. Perdue said Kemp’s handling of the 2020 election cost him his Senate seat.
“He has failed all of us and cannot win in November. Instead of protecting our elections, he caved to Abrams and cost us two Senate seats, the Senate majority, and gave Joe Biden free reign,” Perdue said in his launch video.
2021 began in split screen. As Georgia elected its first Black and Jewish U.S. senators, rioters descended on the U.S. Capitol, falsely claiming the 2020 vote was rigged. The year left a big mark on Georgia politics.
And as 2021 has come to a close, many of the issues that shaped the year are still up in the air. Debates over voting rights, representation, demographics, election integrity — all these topics put Georgia in the spotlight and are sure to keep it there in 2022.
