The 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia was held on November 3, 2020, and on January 5, 2021 (as a runoff), to elect the Class II member of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

to represent the

State of Georgia Georgia is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina; to the northeast by South Carolina; to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean; to the south by Florida; and to the west ...

. Democrat Jon Ossoff defeated incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue in the runoff election. The general election was held concurrently with the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: ** ...

, as well as with other elections to the Senate, elections to the U.S. House of Representatives and various state and local elections. No candidate received a majority of the vote during the general election on November 3, so the top two finishers—Perdue (49.7%) and Ossoff (47.9%)—advanced to a runoff election, held on January 5, 2021. The runoff was held concurrently with the special election for Georgia's other U.S. Senate seat (which had also advanced to a runoff), in which Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler lost to Democratic nominee Raphael Warnock. After the general round of elections, Republicans held 50 Senate seats and the Democratic caucus 48 (including two independents who caucus with them). As a result, the two runoffs decided control of the Senate under the incoming Biden administration. By winning both seats, Democrats took control of the chamber, with

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Kamala Harris's tie-breaking vote giving them an effective majority. The extraordinarily high political stakes caused the races to attract significant attention nationwide and globally. On January 6, 2021, most major news outlets projected Ossoff the winner, in the midst of the US Capitol riot. Perdue conceded the race on January 8. According to

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...

, this campaign was the most expensive in U.S. Senate history, with over $468 million spent. Ossoff's victory, along with Warnock's, gave the Democrats control of the Senate for the first time since 2015. Ossoff and Warnock became the first Democrats to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Georgia since Zell Miller in the 2000 special election. Ossoff became the first Democrat elected to a full term in the Senate from Georgia since Max Cleland, who held this seat from 1997 to 2003, and the first Jewish member of the Senate from the state. Ossoff became the youngest senator since Don Nickles won in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

, and the youngest Democrat since Joe Biden won in 1972. Georgia election officials certified Ossoff's victory on January 19, 2021; he was sworn in on January 20. Ossoff is the first Jewish senator from the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the wa ...

since

Benjamin F. Jonas Benjamin Franklin Jonas (July 19, 1834December 21, 1911) was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Louisiana and an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was the third Jew to serve in the Senate. Jonas was also the ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

, who was elected in 1878, and the first

millennial Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western world, Western demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as start ...

United States senator. This election and the special election both mark the first time since

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

that both Senate seats in a state have flipped from one party to the other in a single election cycle. This was the first time the Democrats achieved this since West Virginia's 1958 Senate elections. With a margin of 1.2%, this election was also the closest race of the 2020 Senate election cycle.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

* David Perdue, incumbent U.S. Senator

Withdrawn

*James Jackson *Michael Jowers, veteran *Ervan Katari Miller, perennial candidate

Declined

*Derrick Grayson, activist and U.S. Senate candidate in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

and 2016. ''(ran in the special election)''.

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

* Jon Ossoff, investigative journalist, media executive, nominee for Georgia's 6th congressional district in 2017

Eliminated in primary

Teresa Tomlinson Teresa Pike Tomlinson (born February 19, 1965) is an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party, she was elected and served as the 69th Mayor of Columbus, Georgia in 2010. On January 3, 2011, she was sworn in as the city ...

, former mayor of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

*Sarah Riggs Amico, nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

*Marckeith DeJesus, candidate for Georgia State Senate in 2017 and candidate for

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005 ...

in 2016 *Maya Dillard-Smith, former two-term Senate Appointee Judge over judicial performance and Rules Committee Chair *James Knox, retired U.S. Air Force officer *Tricia Carpenter McCracken, journalist

Withdrew

*Akhenaten Amun, high school teacher *Harold Shouse *

Ted Terry Edward Richard Terry (4 June 1904 – 5 March 1967) was an outstanding all-round Tasmanian schoolboy athlete. He was an accomplished professional sprinter, and he also played Australian rules football in Tasmania before moving to the mainlan ...

, mayor of Clarkston ''(endorsed Ossoff)'' *Elaine Whigham Williams, pastor and candidate for president in 2016

Declined

* Stacey Abrams, nominee for governor of Georgia in

and former minority leader of the

''(endorsed Ossoff)'' * Jason Carter, grandson of former

Georgia Governor The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legi ...

and President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

, former state senator, and nominee for governor of Georgia in

''(endorsed Tomlinson)'' * Stacey Evans, former state representative and candidate for governor of Georgia in

''( running for state house)'' * Scott Holcomb, state representative * Jen Jordan, state senator * Michelle Nunn, nominee for U.S. Senate in

* Kasim Reed, former

mayor of Atlanta Here is a list of mayors of Atlanta, Georgia. The mayor is the highest elected official in Atlanta. Since its incorporation in 1847, the city has had 61 mayors. The current mayor is Andre Dickens who was elected in the 2021 election and took o ...

*Doug Teper, former state representative * Sally Yates, former

United States Deputy Attorney General The United States deputy attorney general is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice and oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department. The deputy attorney general acts as attorney general during the ...

Polling

Head-to-head polling

Endorsements

Results

Almost four times as many Georgia voters participated in the 2020 Democratic Senate primary as in the 2016 Democratic Senate primary, when only 310,053 votes were cast.

Other candidates

Libertarian Party

Nominee

*Shane Hazel, former U.S. Marine, podcaster, and Republican candidate for

Georgia's 7th congressional district Georgia's 7th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is currently represented by Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux. The district's boundaries have been redrawn following the 2010 census, which granted a ...

Independents

Withdrawn

* Elbert "Al" Bartell, perennial candidate ''(running as an independent candidate in the

2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia The 2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia was held on November 3, 2020, and on January 5, 2021 (as a runoff), to elect the Class III member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Georgia. Democrat Raphae ...

)'' * Allen Buckley, Libertarian candidate for the 2016 United States Senate election in Georgia ''(running as an independent candidate in the

)'' * Tom Jones * Clifton Kilby * Darrell McGuire (as a write-in candidate), retired Georgia State Trooper * Valencia Stovall, Georgian Democratic state representative from District 74 since 2013 ''(running as an independent candidate in the

)''

Debates

The first debate between Hazel, Ossoff, and Perdue occurred virtually on October 12. A second debate between Ossoff and Perdue, held on October 28 in

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

and aired on television station WTOC-TV, was more heated and made national headlines, with Ossoff saying that Perdue had claimed "

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

was no deadlier than the flu", was "looking after isown assets, and... portfolio", and that Perdue voted "four times to end protections for preexisting conditions". Ossoff also called Perdue a "crook" and criticized him for "attacking the health of the people that erepresent . Perdue said Ossoff will "say and do anything to my friends in Georgia to mislead them about how radical and socialist" his agenda is. Video of the exchange went viral. The next day, October 29, Perdue said he would not attend the third and final debate, previously scheduled to be broadcast on

WSB-TV WSB-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Cox Media Group, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to ...

on November 1; instead Perdue decided to attend a rally with President Trump in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on the same day—"as lovely as another debate listening to Jon Ossoff lie to the people of Georgia sounds", according to a Perdue spokesman. On December 6, Ossoff debated an empty podium as Perdue declined to participate in a Georgia Public Broadcasting-held debate. Ossoff criticized Perdue's absence, accusing him of skipping the event because of the negative response to his performance in the October debates.

General election

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

Graphical summary

Aggregate polls

;with Teresa Tomlinson ;with Sarah Riggs Amico ;with Stacey Abrams ;with Generic Democrat ;with Generic Republican and Generic Democrat

Results

No candidate received a majority of the vote on November 3, so the top two finishers—incumbent Republican senator David Perdue (49.7%) and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff (47.9%)—advanced to a runoff election held on January 5, 2021. Voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected were allowed to submit corrections until 5pm on November 6.

Runoff

The runoff election between Perdue and Ossoff was on January 5, 2021, alongside the special election for the Georgia U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Kelly Loeffler. Following the 2020 Senate elections, Republicans held 50 Senate seats and the Democratic caucus 48. Since Democrats won both Georgia runoffs, their caucus gained control of the Senate, as the resultant 50–50 tie is broken by Democratic vice president Kamala Harris. If the Democrats had lost either race, Republicans would have retained control of the Senate. The high political stakes caused the races to attract significant nationwide attention. These elections are the third and fourth Senate runoff elections to be held in Georgia since runoffs were first mandated in 1964, following runoffs in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. It is also the third time that both of Georgia's Senate seats have been up for election at the same time, following double-barrel elections in 1914 and

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hir ...

. The deadline for registration for the runoff election was December 7, 2020. Absentee ballots for the runoff election were sent out beginning on November 18, and in-person voting began on December 14. Ossoff's runoff campaign largely focused around accusing Perdue of corruption as well as aggressively courting Black voters in an attempt to drive up turnout, while Perdue characterised Ossoff as a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

and accused him of having ties to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. Perdue's campaign was hampered by his refusal to state that Joe Biden had won that year's

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

, which made it exceedingly difficult for him to argue that an Ossoff victory would create a Democratic trifecta.

Predictions

Polling

Aggregate polls

This section also contains pre-runoff polls excluding all candidates except head-to-head matchups. ;with Generic Republican and Generic Democrat

Results

;Counties that flipped from Republican to DemocraticElection results
from CNN * Cobb (largest municipality: Marietta) * Gwinnett (largest municipality: Peachtree Corners) ;Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican *

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Si ...

(largest municipality: Newton) *

Burke Burke is an Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman Monarchy of Ireland, Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (–1206) had ...

(largest municipality: Waynesboro) * Chattahoochee (largest municipality: Cusseta) * Dooly (largest municipality:

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

) * Twiggs (largest municipality: Jeffersonville)

Notes

;Partisan clients ;Voter samples and additional candidates

References

External links

* * (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
Elections
at the Georgia Secretary of State official website * * *
Request a mail-in ballot
at the Georgia Secretary of State website
Check to see if you are registered to vote
at the Georgia Secretary of State website
Register to vote
at Vote.org ;Official campaign websites
Shane T. Hazel (L) for Senate

Jon Ossoff (D) for Senate

David Perdue (R) for Senate
{{2021 United States elections

2020-21 The hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as such. ...

Georgia Georgia

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Withdrawn

Declined

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrew

Declined

Polling

Head-to-head polling

Endorsements

Results

Other candidates

Libertarian Party

Nominee

Independents

Withdrawn

Debates

General election

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

Graphical summary

Aggregate polls

Results

Runoff

Predictions

Polling

Aggregate polls

Results

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links