By Kate Hoffman
Under the Trump administration, Democrats have been at the mercy of both a Republican president and Congress, putting immense pressure on Democratic senators running in this year’s election to win. One of these is Georgia Senate candidate Jon Ossoff. Georgia has been at the center of the news over the last few months for a number of controversial reasons, including its racial protests and handling of COVID-19. Georgia was also at the center of women’s rights controversies for its strict abortion legislation two years ago. Additionally, Democrats may feel an added pressure to claim a majority in the Senate due to the recent death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In the midst of these politically polarizing events, Jon Ossoff has been in a battle to convince a predominantly red state that he is the change the state needs.
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Ossoff left his hometown to attend Georgetown University where he earned an undergraduate degree from the School of Foreign Service. After leaving Washington, D.C., he earned a master’s degree from the London School of Economics. The aspiring senator found a passion for investigative journalism, which landed him a CEO position at Insight TWI, an international investigative journalism company. Ossoff writes that his work centered around exposing “corruption, organized crime, and war crimes” at the global level. After running TWI media while also serving as a national security advisor to Congressman Hank Johnson, Ossoff put his journalism career on hold when he ran for the House of Representatives in 2017.
The 2017 House of Representatives race between Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel was unconventional for Georgia politics and gained national media attention for a number of reasons. The first of these reasons was money; according to the New York Times, the race between Handel and Ossoff was the most expensive House of Representatives race in U.S. history, totaling just under $60 million. Another reason the race attracted press was the small margin of victory by Republican nominee Karen Handel. After the first round of the election, Handel received 51.8% of the votes while Ossoff received 48.2%. A runoff election was required in which Handel came out victorious. Handel’s victory is consistent with the traditional conservative values of Georgia, but Ossoff’s narrow loss shined a light on the influence of Atlanta’s growing liberal population.
With his choice to run against incumbent Senator David Perdue this year, Ossoff is not ready to throw in the towel, despite Georgia’s history of Republican Senators. If Ossoff were to win this year’s election, it would be the first time since 1996 that Georgia had a Democratic Senator. The current political climate might work to Ossoff’s advantage in this election. Just last year, Statista ranked Atlanta as the worst city with regards to income inequality in the United States. On top of this, the Black Lives Matter Movement may further push Georgia voters to vote Democratic this election cycle. The Black Lives Matter movement may attract a higher number of Gen Z voters, an age group that does not exercise their right to vote as much as older generations do. According to Time Magazine, Rock the Vote recorded that 150,000 new voters in the month following the murder of George Floyd. The shooting of Rayshard Brooks by the Atlanta Police was a catalyst for protests and demands for change in Atlanta, exemplifying the growing public pressure coming from the new largest voting sector of Georgia.
There is great pressure on Democratic senators to win Senate elections for states like Georgia that have been turning more purple in recent years. Regardless of the president in office, control of the Senate would, at the least, curb conservative economic and social legislation from going into effect. The biggest items on the Democratic Party’s agenda include a more involved government response to combating COVID-19, legislation to decrease police brutality and racial tension, and the expansion of healthcare benefits created under the Obama Administration’s Affordable Care Act. Also with the upcoming general election, the Democratic party knows that gaining the majority in the Senate is the best way they can prepare if Trump is reelected in November. Business Insider reported that Ossoff was behind 5% in election predictions, but as seen in the past election predictions are not always accurate. This year’s Senate election in Georgia as well as the national election are going to be harder to predict due to the unprecedented and uncertain events of 2020. As for Ossoff, he will continue to preach the message of expanding affordable healthcare and representing the little man in his state. If he doesn’t find himself winning a seat in this year’s Senate, he may at least once again incite the fear in Georgia’s Republican officials that the state is becoming more and more blue.