A lot of big events took place the week of January 4, 2021. Among them were the Georgia Senate Runoff elections, which occurred because neither candidate in the Senate race received more than 50% of the votes cast.

In the running for the one of the two senate seats available was democratic candidate Jon Ossoff, who faced off against Republican incumbent Senator David Perdue. The race for the second seat was between Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Reverend Raphael Warnock, Ph.D, a pastor native to the state.  

This was a historical election; Warnock was elected the first black senator from Georgia, and the youngest and first Jewish senator was elected into office. The Insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th overshadowed the election itself, but the runoff was a tremendous victory for democrats.

Senator-elect Jon Ossoff ran on a platform that supported affordable health care; even though he opposed Universal health care, he supported a public option. He wanted to reduce healthcare costs and expand access to affordable healthcare. Compared to Warnock, Ossoff wanted to improve infrastructure and invest in clean energy. According to his website, he is “fighting for great health care for every American with a strong Public Option and strengthened Affordable Care Act, to defend Medicare and Social Security, for historic investment in clean energy and infrastructure, to lower taxes for working families and small businesses,”

Sen. David Perdue lost the runoff race against Ossoff, which flipped the house and made Senator Mitch McConnel the minority leader. The Republican incumbent ran on safety promises, from Covid-19 to national defense to law and order and access to healthcare. Perdue states on his website, “I believe in protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions, and I authored the PROTECT Act to do just that. Worked to pass the 21st century CURES Act, streamlining regulations to get life-saving drugs to market faster and cheaper.” Perdue highlights his history as an “outsider” because he is a businessperson turned politician. 

Reverend Raphael Warnock ran on a platform of implementing universal health care, voting rights, and fighting for the ordinary American. According to Ballotpedia, Warnock said, “I’ve been fighting for access to affordable healthcare, I’ve been fighting for voting rights, I’ve been fighting for essential workers, ordinary people, because I know what it’s like to be an ordinary person.” Senator-elect Warnock, who highlighted his background growing up in the projects with his 11 sisters and brothers, received his Ph.D. in theology and became the youngest senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church where Martin Luther King Jr. was also a pastor.  Senator Kelly Loeffler highlighted her background growing up and working on her family’s farm. She worked her way through high school and college as a waitress. Loeffler’s key running point was COVID-19 relief for families and businesses. She opposed universal health care and according to her website, believes “the solution is not a government-run system that would get rid of employer-provided insurance, shutter our hospitals and raise taxes on the middle class. Instead, we need to implement reforms that will lower health care costs, empower patients with more choice and increase access to quality care.”