President-elect Joe Biden delivered a stunning win in Georgia on November 3, but now Democrats face the tough challenge of doing the same thing—twice—on January 5 as Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff face off against Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. Biden’s win came in large part thanks to years of relentless on-the-ground organizing in the state, so much of it by Black women, and the good news is, that work is continuing, and even ramping up.
Felicia Davis of the Clayton County Black Women’s Roundtable told The Washington Post that, following lower-than-usual voter turnout in her area, her group would increase its in-person organizing despite the pandemic. “We have to put on face masks and shields because we have to canvass. People do have to have that personal touch,” she said.
Let’s help push this over the finish line and win the Senate. Can you chip in $3 each to Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff?
New Georgia Project, founded by Stacey Abrams and currently run by Nse Ufot, is targeting 100,000 people—mostly young people of color—to try to register them to vote by the December 7 deadline. The group already registered young people as they came out of a multi-school graduation ceremony for Atlanta high school students whose original graduations had been canceled due to the pandemic.
One key challenge is that Democrats have underperformed in runoffs in Georgia in recent election cycles. In 2008, for instance, Republican Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin went to a runoff after a 49.8% to 46.8% general election. Chambliss won the runoff 57.4% to 42.6%. But things are changing.
“I’ve definitely met people in rural parts of the state who say, ‘Oh they’re trying to take away our vote? We’re not going to have that,’” Wanda Mosley, senior coordinator for Black Voters Matter in Georgia, told the Post. “It absolutely motivates Black voters across the state when they see our voting rights under attack.”
It’s a huge job. But these groups have already changed the state. Maybe, just maybe, they can put the icing on the cake.