Pence urges Georgia Republicans to turn out in final Senate battleground
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[November 21, 2020]
By Jeff Mason
GAINESVILLE, Ga. (Reuters) - Vice President
Mike Pence charged into the final battle for control of the U.S. Senate
on Friday, urging Republican voters in Georgia to come out in force for
Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in two hotly contested Jan. 5
runoff elections.
On the same day that state officials certified President-elect Joe
Biden's election victory over President Donald Trump, Pence joined a bus
tour through suburban Republican strongholds north of Atlanta, with
stops at two "Defend the Majority" rallies attended by hundreds of
supporters.
The state's two competitive contests will determine which party gets
majority control of the Senate. Democrats, who netted only one
Republican Senate seat nationwide in the Nov. 3 election, need win both
to give them 50 of the chamber's 100 seats, with Vice President-elect
Kamala Harris wielding the tie-breaking vote.
Victories by challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock would allow
Democrats to push Biden's agenda through Congress next year.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Nov/21/images/ads/current/bestfriends_sda_TIP_2020.png)
But with Trump no longer on the ballot, Republicans and Democrats both
face challenges getting large numbers of voters to the polls in January.
"Georgia, I got back on the bus today because we need you to stay in the
fight," Pence told cheering supporters at an outdoor event in Canton.
"Stay in the fight until we send David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler back to
a Republican majority."
Pence, who a White House official said will make repeated visits to
Georgia ahead of the runoffs, traveled with U.S. Agriculture Secretary
Sonny Perdue, a cousin of the senator and a leading party figure who
served as the first Republican governor of Georgia since the post-Civil
War Reconstruction.
Pence portrayed Perdue and Loeffler as contenders in what "could be the
last line of defense" for Republican priorities including tax cuts,
reduced regulation, strong military spending, tough immigration policies
and a conservative federal judiciary.
Pence steered clear of references to the intensifying coronavirus
pandemic in addressing supporters, only some of whom wore masks, with
little social distancing.
Georgia has not elected a Democratic senator since 1996. But Republican
confidence has been shaken by Biden's narrow 49.5% to 49.2% lead over
Trump, making him the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the
state in nearly three decades.
Trump's refusal to concede the presidential election is also
complicating matters for Republicans by making it hard to rally voters
to hold the line against a Biden presidency. Pence did not mention Biden
in his remarks, portraying Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer and
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi instead as political villains.
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![](../images/112120PIX/news_u61.jpg)
Vice President Mike Pence takes off his protective face mask to
speak as he leads a briefing by the White House coronavirus task
force about the U.S. spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the
Brady press briefing room at the White House in Washington, U.S.,
November 19, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis
![](../images/ads/current/fitzpatrick_lda_SPONSOR_2017.png)
"Like all of you, I'm here because I stand with President Trump,"
Pence told the crowd gathered at an agricultural center in
Gainesville. He drew chants of "Stop the Steal!" and Four More
Years!" after vowing that Trump would continue to contest the
results of the election.
Despite Trump's claims about a fraudulent vote, government officials
have not reported any major irregularities. Most election scholars
said the odds of Trump ultimately being named president are slim.
"Let's show the world what Georgia's all about, that the agenda of
Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi is not the agenda of the people of
Georgia," said Pence, calling Warnock and Ossoff wrong for the
Senate.
Warnock took to Twitter to ask for campaign donations to combat
Republican efforts to raise millions of dollars for the pair of
two-month races, which could see well over $100 million in total
spending.
Led by strategy guru Karl Rove, Republicans have formed a
fundraising network of party top brass that is seeking millions of
dollars from donors in big states like Florida and Texas.
"Why are Karl Rove and his wealthy allies spending millions of
dollars to keep unelected Sen. @KLoeffler in the Senate?" Warnock, a
Black pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church where slain civil rights
leader Martin Luther King Jr. once preached.
"To protect their pocketbooks. Kelly is for Kelly and her fellow
billionaires. I'm fighting for Georgia. Chip in to help us fight
back."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Nov/21/images/ads/current/topflight_sda_SFARM_2020.png)
Loeffler, a wealthy businesswoman, was appointed to the Senate in
2019 by Governor Brian Kemp to replace retiring Republican Senator
Johnny Isakson.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason in Georgia and David Morgan in Washington;
additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Wilmington, Delaware;
writing by David Morgan; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Sonya
Hepinstall)
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