Georgia senate seats runoff(s) megathread

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/09/loeffler-perdue-georgia-secretary-state-resign-435484

Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia called on the state’s GOP secretary of state to resign on Monday, citing “failures” in the election process but not providing any specific evidence to support their claims.

“There have been too many failures in Georgia elections this year and the most recent election has shined a national light on the problems,” Loeffler and Perdue said in a joint statement. “The Secretary of State has failed to deliver honest and transparent elections. He has failed the people of Georgia, and he should step down immediately."

....


Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger responded in a statement Monday saying he would not resign, and defended his office's handling of the election. He said the election was a "resounding success" from an administration perspective. He highlighted his office's briefings and updates to argue that they had conducted the process with transparency.

"I know emotions are running high. Politics are involved in everything right now," Raffensperger said. "If I was Senator Perdue, I’d be irritated I was in a runoff. And both Senators and I are all unhappy with the potential outcome for our President. But I am the duly elected Secretary of State. One of my duties involves helping to run elections for all Georgia voters. I have taken that oath, and I will execute that duty and follow Georgia law."

Raffensperger said the process for reporting results in the state was orderly and followed the law. And he added that while he was "sure" there were illegal votes cast, it was "unlikely" that there total rose to the "numbers or margin necessary to change the outcome" of the election.

He also took a shot at Perdue and Loeffler for their criticism: "As a Republican, I am concerned about Republicans keeping the U.S. Senate. I recommend that Senators Loeffler and Perdue start focusing on that."

I'm not entirely sure why either Purdue or Loeffler think attacking Raffensperger is a winning move for them. Wouldn't that make more sense as something that Osoff or Warnock could attempt to do?

[NewYorkExpress]

Brad Raffensperger says Lindsey Graham asked him if he had the authority to throw out all mail-in ballots in some counties.

Georgia’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger has said that Senator Lindsey Graham asked whether it was possible to invalidate legally cast ballots after Donald Trump was narrowly defeated in the state.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Raffensperger said that his fellow Republican, the chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, questioned him about the state’s signature-matching law and asked whether political bias might have played a role in counties where poll workers accepted higher rates of mismatched signatures. According to Raffensperger, Graham then asked whether he had the authority to toss out all mail-in ballots in these counties.

Raffspenger was reportedly “stunned” by the question, in which Graham appeared to suggest that he find a way to throw out legally cast absentee ballots.

“It sure looked like he was wanting to go down that road,” he said.

If Warnock and Ossoff are smart, they'll find a way to link Perdue and Loeffler to this.

[NewYorkExpress]

Dozens of Georgia Veterans are calling for Warnock to drop out after decade old comments stating that "no one can serve God and the military surface.

Dozens of veterans from Georgia are calling on Democratic Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock to drop out of the state’s run-off race in January after his nearly a decade-old comment saying “nobody can serve God and the military” resurfaced.


Fox News obtained a list of more than four dozen Georgia veterans who are calling on Warnock to suspend his campaign.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/flashback-raphael-warnock-america-nobody-can-serve-god-military

The relevant quote:

“America, nobody can serve God and the military,” Warnock said at the time. “You can’t serve God and money. You cannot serve God and mammon at the same time. America, choose ye this day who you will serve. Choose ye this day.”

“Politicians try to keep their power. Political parties lie in order to keep their power. And church folk, yeah, you too, maneuver…in order to keep your power And Jesus says, that’s not power. That’s paranoia.”

“Because when you’ve got real power, you’re not worrying about your place in the world. You know how to be exalted and you know how to be abased. You know how to sit high and you know how to sit low and you’re not worried about your place in the world because you’re connected with something that’s greater than you and you’re concerned about something that’s greater than yourself.”

“When you have real power, Jesus says that you’ll lay it down so that somebody else can have some power. Real power will lay itself down on behalf of the powerless,” Warnock added.

[NewYorkExpress]

The Democrats won't win these Seats - Period!

Biden has realized this already by thus far nominating "Safe Picks" to his Cabinet who can sail through the Senate without too much Republican Opposition. That tells me that he doesn't believe that they will win both Seats.

I still believe that if Republicans win one or both runoffs in Georgia, no nominee of his will get a hearing in the Senate.

[NewYorkExpress]

Warnock apparently compared Benjamin Netanyahu to George Wallace.

After a Senate candidate in Georgia backtracked on his harsh criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians Tuesday, another clip surfaced in which he used controversial language to describe Mideast tensions.


In a 2016 sermon, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to a two-state solution for peace in the region.

He called Netanyahu’s stance “tantamount to saying occupation today, occupation tomorrow, occupation forever,” a line similar to former Alabama Gov. George Wallace’s call for, “segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever.”


He went on to argue that there could be no democracy in Israel without a two-state solution because of the disenfranchisement of Arab voters.

[NewYorkExpress]

Purdue is engaged in a Twitter War with AOC.

Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) sparred Saturday over the upcoming Georgia Senate runoffs, with the progressive congresswoman urging Democrats to turn out to vote and the GOP senator pushing the liberal firebrand to go to Georgia and campaign in person.

The back-and-forth began after Ocasio-Cortez this week encouraged supporters in Georgia to vote for the two Democrats running in the Jan. 5 runoffs in order to help the party secure a Senate majority and advance progressive priorities such as a $15 minimum wage and expanded access to health care.

Perdue shared a report about Ocasio-Cortez's remarks, adding, "our offer still stands - come on down to Georgia, we'll buy your ticket!"


The GOP senator had urged the progressive lawmaker to visit the state last month and campaign for his Democratic opponent, Jon Ossoff, telling Fox News then, "I want to buy her ticket. I want her to come."

https://twitter.com/Perduesenate/status/1337797862986555392

https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1337804821097746432

https://twitter.com/Perduesenate/status/1337815542774816768

[NewYorkExpress]

Loeffler took more than $28,000 in donations from family who's company hired illegal immigrants and got fined for it.

Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who has maintained a strong anti-illegal immigration stance during her short tenure in office, has raised tens of thousands of dollars for her Georgia Senate runoff campaign from donors linked to a family owned company that was forced to pay out more than $95 million in fines for unlawful immigration practices and alleged hiring discrimination, disclosure records show.

Between late November and early December, Loeffler's campaign received more than $28,000 in contributions from at least 11 members of the Asplundh family, according to new campaign finance reports filed to the Federal Election Commission. The Asplundh family owns and operates the large, privately held Asplundh Tree Expert Company, which has done work for the U.S. Department of Energy.

In 2017, the Pennsylvania-based tree-trimming and vegetation management company had to pay the largest civil settlement ever levied by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a yearslong investigation resulted in the company pleading guilty to "unlawfully employing aliens." Additionally, in January 2019, Asplundh agreed to pay $55,000 in back wages to settle hiring discrimination allegations stemming from one of its facilities in Georgia.

None of the donations to Loeffler from the family members properly listed their association with the company as required by the FEC, and instead, the Loeffler campaign wrote under the employer and occupation sections: "INFORMATION REQUESTED PER BEST EFFORTS."