Next up, @ossoff and @ReverendWarnock will be sworn in, cementing Democratic control of the Senate. They’re set to take office around 4:30 this afternoon.
“@Ossoff will be sworn in using a book of Hebrew scripture once owned by Rabbi Jacob Rothschild, who led Atlanta’s historic synagogue The Temple...”
The rabbi was a key MLK ally who encouraged ATL’s Jewish community to fight for civil rights and oppose hate & intolerance. #gasen
Rothschild’s synagogue was bombed in ‘58 by white supremacists angered by his opposition to segregation; it was a turning point in ATL. Civic leaders rallied behind him, and Jewish Atlantans who were wary of getting involved in politics woke up. the-temple.org/bombing
You can draw a line between Rothschild’s leadership during the civil rights era and @ossoff’s election this month as the first Jewish US senator in Georgia history — not just symbolically. Ossoff earned his bar mitzvah from The Temple about 20 years ago. #gapol#gasen
The Jolt: Georgia officials are expected to certify Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock’s runoff victories today, setting up a swearing-in as early as Wednesday. #gapol#gasenajc.com/politics/polit…
More jolt: Rep. @NikemaWilliams has filed a bill that would bar Trump from stepping foot inside the U.S. Capitol ever again. “President Trump has shown time and time again that he is a danger to our democracy and a threat to the country.” #gapolajc.com/politics/polit…
Georgia @GovKemp tries to set a new tone at the state Capitol after a divisive election, endorsing a revamp of the citizen's arrest law and calling for an end to ‘harmful’ misinformation. #gapolajc.com/politics/kemp-…
Georgia Democrats don’t buy it. House Minority Leader James Beverly says the state’s refusal to expand Medicaid and more aggressively contain the virus has repercussions: “We cannot afford to stand by when Georgia rises in the ranks of these shameful metrics.” #gapol
“These measures do not prevent fraud. They prevent democracy.” Georgia Democratic state Sen. @elenaparent on @GovKemp’s call for new voter ID requirements for absentee ballots following GOP defeats in November and January. #gapol
Georgia @GovKemp opens his State of the State honoring the lives lost to the pandemic: “Those great Georgians may be gone, but they will not be forgotten. We will win this fight against COVID-19 and their legacies will live on for generations to come.” #gapol
@GovKemp This might as well be a message to Kemp's fellow Republicans: “There are some who want to look to the past, assign blame, settle old scores, and relive and relitigate 2020. Today I think we should take the advice of those wise farmers. Let’s clear the fields and start planting.”
@GovKemp The loudest and most sustained ovation -- by far -- has gone to Dr. Kathleen Toomey, the state's top health commissioner. "God sent Georgia the right person at the right time," Kemp said. #gapol
Says Loeffler: “Rest assured: the fight to advance the American Dream is far from over. The fight to protect conservative values is far from over. And the fight against socialism and the radical agenda of the left is very far from over." #gapol#gasenajc.com/politics/polit…
Jon @Ossoff just declared victory in his Senate race: "It is with humility that I thank the people of Georgia for electing me to serve you in the United States Senate." #gapol#gasen
A statement from @ossoff’s campaign manager Ellen Foster:
"When all the votes are counted we fully expect that Jon Ossoff will have won this election to represent Georgia in the United States Senate." #gasen
Ossoff now leads Perdue by nearly 10,000 votes ...
From the Perdue camp: “We will mobilize every available resource and exhaust every legal recourse to ensure all legally cast ballots are properly counted. We believe in the end, Senator Perdue will be victorious."
Republicans still narrowly lead but Democrats can rely on hundreds of thousands of votes still outstanding in metro Atlanta that will break heavily toward @ossoff and @ReverendWarnock. DeKalb County, where the votes could break ~80/20, is key #gapol#gasen
@ossoff@ReverendWarnock Where are the outstanding Republican votes? There are some troves still in Columbia, Bartow, Forsyth. But we're waiting for a wave of votes from densely-populated D-leaning counties, including Chatham, Cobb, Henry and -- of course -- DeKalb. #gapol#gasen
And we’ve got our first batch of Senate runoff results in — a few hundred votes in Burke County in east Georgia. Buckle up - we will start getting more mail-in batches soon. #gapol#gasen
Huge batch of Fulton County ballots just came in, a Democratic stronghold, giving Democrats a cushion of about 55k votes overall. Constant reminder that it’s very early. #gapol#gasen
Watch Hall County, along with neighboring Cherokee and Forsyth, closely tonight. These are probably the three most important Republican counties in Georgia and the early returns show a 85-15 split in Hall for the GOP. #gapol#gasen
John Paul Jones Jr., 72, voted for the #gasen Rs in Macon. “I’mma go on, and get it over with,” Jones told the @ajc’s Carly Wanna. "Both sides make me sick” he said, citing the barrage of negative ads. Still, in his 54 years as a voter, he knows “that’s typical” politics.
Trump demands Georgia elections official overturn his defeat in hourlong call. ‘The data you have is wrong,’ Raffensperger replies. More on this pre-runoff push to reverse Trump's defeat here: #gapol#gasenajc.com/politics/polit…
“We believe we do have an accurate election,” Raffensperger said at one point.
Trump suggests the Republican #gasen candidates will go down in flames if Raffensperger doesn't reverse his election defeat. “It’s going to have a big impact on Tuesday if you guys don’t get this thing straightened out fast.” #gapolajc.com/politics/polit…
.@GovKemp responds: “Let me tell you what I've been focused on today and I think it’s what Georgians want me to be focused on — and that is making sure if they need a hospital bed, they're going to get one.” #gapol
The unprecedented review of signatures on absentee ballot envelopes found that the Cobb Elections Department had “a 99.99% accuracy rate in performing correct signature verification procedures” and no fraudulent absentee votes, Georgia’s top elections official says. #gapol#gasen
Georgia’s audit of signatures on absentee ballot envelopes has done nothing to stop the president from attacking the integrity of the state’s vote. #gapol
Ahead of coronavirus relief package vote, @ossoff says: “$600 won’t cover the rent or the bills that have piled up over months of inaction by Republicans in Congress.” #gapol#gasen
.@AmericaFerrera to Latino voters at a runoff rally for Democratic Senate candidates in Gwinnett County: “We deserve to have our voices heard. Talk to every one you know — and remind them that this election is as consequential as the one in November.” #gapol#gasen
.@EvaLongoria: “We’re not from Georgia, but we're Americans — and Georgia, all eyes are on you again. Let me tell you — you guys saved the soul of this nation in November. And you're gonna do it again ...” #gapol#gasen
Perdue’s camp told me last week that since his Senate term ends on Jan. 3 – two days before the runoff vote – he can’t participate in any Senate business until the runoff results are certified, a process that will take weeks. #gapol#gasen
.@GovKemp is fed up with the unrelenting attacks from conspiracy theorists calling on him to overturn President-elect Biden’s victory in Georgia. But he’s even more enraged that some of those peddlers are targeting his wife and three daughters. #gapolajc.com/politics/polit…
@GovKemp Of a potential GOP challenge: “I’m ready for any kind of fight that anybody wants to have – Republican primary general election, whatever it is.” #gapolajc.com/politics/polit…
Kemp: “I can assure you I can handle myself. And if they’re brave enough to come out from underneath that keyboard or behind it, we can have a little conversation if they would like to.” #gapolajc.com/politics/polit…
“We are grateful — and that goes to everyone across the state who are at the front lines.”
Georgia @GovKemp is at Grady Memorial, where the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine in Atlanta are about to be administered to medical workers. #gapol
Kemp says he struck a deal with legislative leaders to spend about $70M thru March to help nursing homes and hospitals administer the vaccine, boost staff and handle the surge of coronavirus cases. #gapol
“There’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” says Dr. Kathleen Toomey, Georgia’s top doc. #gapol
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