Next Stop, Georgia: The Fight Is on for Democrats to Turn out Voters in the State Runoff

A Latino organization will invest millions in Georgia to encourage Latino voter turnout for January’s special runoff elections.  

Democrats aren’t resting after Joe Biden’s presidential victory, they’re now focused on Georgia’s two runoff elections. 

The first race is between Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, but there are also 19 other candidates on the ballot, including Republican Rep. Doug Collins. If no candidate wins a majority of votes in the current election, a runoff between the top two finishers will be held in January.

One of the most critical Senate races, which could flip Georgia from a red to a blue state, is the runoff election between Republican David Perdue, who currently has 49.7% of the votes, and Democrat Jon Ossoff, with 47.9%.

RELATED: Georgia’s Latino Voter Turnout Doubled in 2020

On Nov. 9, María Teresa Kumar, Voto Latino President and CEO, said the organization is investing $2.5 million in Georgia for the runoff Senate races. According to Voto Latino, 697,872 Latino voters cast early ballots in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all battleground states that clinched the presidency for Biden. 

Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang said he is relocating his family to Georgia to help Democrats win in that state.

“We will be getting organized—but in the meantime, if you have a room available in Georgia for volunteers post it here,” Yang tweeted. “We are going to fight it out in GA. Much more to come!”

Latino Victory, a progressive organization, who was in part responsible for the large Latino voter turnout nationwide, is pushing for Deborah González, who is running for District Attorney in Georgia. If she wins, she would be the first Latina DA in the Peach State. 

Stacey Abrams, the one-time candidate for Georgia governor who has become perhaps the nation’s leading voice on voting rights, is being credited with paving those inroads. She raised millions of dollars to organize and register hundreds of thousands of voters and used her high profile to keep the party focused on the state.

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“Georgia has had the potential for years,” Abrams told the Associated Press before Election Day. “It didn’t just start this cycle. This has been work that’s been ongoing for nearly a decade, and I’m just proud to see it come to fruition and for it to finally receive the level of investment it deserves.”