The Importance of the Georgia senate run-off on January 5, 2021
There’s plenty of enthusiasm in the state of Georgia following the recent presidential race.
President-elect Joe Biden won the state by over 12,000 votes to become the first Democrat to win Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992. In Georgia, there were reports that nearly 20% of ballots cast were by voters between the ages of 18 and 29. That was encouraging.
While that represented a huge victory for a state that has historically been Republican-dominated; there is still a lot more work to do because of a pair of critical senate runoff races that will occur on Tuesday, Jan. 5. In some ways, these runoffs will be more important than the recent presidential race.
The ramifications of the votes go beyond Georgia’s borders because these races will determine the balance of power in Washington, D.C. The same voters who went to the poll in record numbers must get out and exercise their right to vote.
In one of the runoff races, Senator David Perdue will compete against Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff. Perdue has served as a senator for Georgia since 2015. In the other runoff race, Senator Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed by Governor Brian Kemp in 2019 after her predecessor, Johnny Isakson, resigned from office because of health issues, will face Democrat Raphael Warnock.
Therefore, these races matter.
ABIS hosted a summit titled “Georgia: Let’s Do It Again” on Monday, Dec. 28 that brought awareness to the importance of the race.
The summit was a way to continue the important conversations, share the issues at the heart of the runoff, and help those in the state make an informed decision.
These upcoming runoff races are a way for Black constituents and other constituents of color to further bolster their political influence. This recent election showcased a strength in unity that hadn’t been witnessed before in the state as determined voters conquered the obstacles of voter suppression, which included a lack of convenient access to polling locations, rigid identification laws, and technological flaws.
The same energy and passion that occurred during November’s presidential election have already started with more than a million people participating in the early voting period during the Georgia runoff elections that started on Dec. 14th.
Do you see what we see?
Disclaimer for Voting Initiatives and/or Events
The Advancement of Blacks in Sports, Inc. (A.B.I.S.) is a non-political, non-partisan organization that cannot endorse or oppose candidates for elective office or political parties and refrains from promoting one political party over another. Our goal for these upcoming elections is to ensure, facilitate, and champion voter participation.
ABOUT ABIS: Founder by Gary Charles, New York’s Godfather of Grassroots Basketball fostered a partnership with notable African Americans and social justice activists and allies to launch Advancement of Blacks in Sports, Inc. (ABIS), on September 2, 2020. ABIS is a non-profit organization with a mission to boldly advocate for a culture of equity and inclusion that results in the advancement of racial, economic, and social justice for Blacks in sports. For more see www.weareabisevents.org.
ABOUT ROB KNOX: Rob Knox is currently the Associate Athletic Director of Strategic Communications at UNC Greensboro (UNCG) and a CoSIDA past president. An award-winning communications professional, Knox has over 20-years of experience in several sectors of the media including sports information, newspapers and television. A member of The Lincoln University of Pennsylvania Athletics Hall of Fame, graduate of the NCAA Leadership Institute and 2011 CoSIDA Rising Star Award winner, Knox is one of the most influential, passionate and accomplished athletic communications professionals in the country.
