It was only a short time ago in which President-Elect Joe Biden, won the state of Georgia—effectively flipping the state blue for the first time since 1992, but now it’s time for the U.S. Senate to flip too (who doesn’t love a good rhyme?). With a 48(D)-50(R) Senate makeup, the next two years of this legislative body lies solely in the hands of the two Senate Runoff elections in Georgia on Jan. 5th: Perdue (R-Incumbent) vs. Ossoff (D) and Loeffler (R-Incumbent) vs. Warnock (D), and it’s up to us—The American people—to understand why these races are important and to pay attention and get involved in whatever ways we are able.
On November 7th, it was projected that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would be the President-Elect and Vice President-Elect of the United States after clenching a win in Pennsylvania. The Biden-Harris win was met with celebrations all across the country—dance parties, honking horns, and popped bottles of champagne. However, with all of this well-deserved joy and excitement of electing two competent, kind, and capable human beings to the White House (and the first Black and Indian woman VP!!!) comes a responsibility and a call-to-action that is impossible to ignore.
President-Elect Biden and Vice-President Elect Harris are ready to put forth and execute their agenda for racial justice, climate activism, women’s rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, health care, gun control, student loans… the list goes on and on. But this important legislation—legislation that could progress our country to a place of healing—will never become a reality unless we work to elect Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to the U.S. Senate, making it a 50/50 split with Vice President Harris breaking the tie, effectively greenlighting the pieces of legislation that the Biden-Harris administration needs to pass in order to work towards a healthier, safer, and more equitable society—and so that we can hold them accountable to that vision of our society as well.
So what can YOU do? First of all: read about Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and their campaign platforms, their ideals will not only be affecting the state of Georgia, but the visions they bring to Capitol Hill and the rest of the country.
Here is Ossoff’s campaign platform.
Here is Warnock’s campaign platform.
After doing that, I encourage you to find a community of people who are also committed to getting Ossoff and Warnock elected. Personally, I have been joining Facebook Groups dedicated to this matter.
It is important to remember that even if you don’t live in Georgia, like me, you can still get involved, but remember to listen to the organizers and advocates that are on the ground in Georgia, many of which are the same people (!!Black women!!) who worked to flip Georgia blue.
If you are able to, please donate to Stacey Abrams’ civic and voter engagement organization, Fair Fight and of course to both Ossoff and Warnock’s campaigns. Look for opportunities to phonebank, text bank, or write postcards, and most importantly, never stop talking to your friends and family about the importance of these two elections and why they should also get involved in this movement to work towards a better society.