Ossoff challenges Perdue to three debates ahead of January Senate runoff

Democrat Jon Ossoff on Monday challenged Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) to three televised debates ahead of their January Senate runoff election in Georgia.

“Our country continues to face great challenges — acute public health and economic crises, persistent economic hardship for working families, unequal justice under the law, deep political divisions, and widespread corruption in our political system,” Ossoff wrote in a letter to Perdue.

“Georgians deserve to hear their candidates for U.S. Senate debate these issues publicly,” he added. “I am asking you to join me in committing to three live, in-person debates sponsored by media organizations throughout our great state. Georgians deserve nothing less.”

Ossoff and Perdue advanced to a runoff election last week after neither candidate managed to pass the 50 percent vote threshold required to win the Senate contest outright. Perdue leads Ossoff in the initial vote 49.7 percent to 47.9 percent.

The runoff between Ossoff and Perdue is one of two Senate runoffs expected in Georgia in January. A special election to fill the seat previously held by former Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) also advanced to a runoff last week after no candidate passed the 50 percent threshold. In that race, Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) will compete against Democrat Raphael Warnock. 

The dual runoffs in Georgia will be pivotal in determining which party controls the Senate for at least the next two years. Republicans are likely to enter 2021 with 50 seats in the chamber. If Democrats win both of Georgia’s seats in the January runoffs, it will effectively give them control of the chamber, given President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s victory in the White House race over the weekend. Harris would become the tie-breaking vote in the Senate.

Ossoff projected confidence in Democrats’ chances of winning both Senate seats in Georgia in January, telling CNN in an interview that there is “a huge sense of enthusiasm and momentum” behind his and Warnock’s campaigns.

“To have two Senate runoffs for Senate control, with so much at stake, with this virus still raging out of control, with an urgent need to get economic and financial relief to families in my state and across the country,” he said. “We have the wind at our backs and a great sense of promise and opportunity here.”