Democrats defied most pundits and retained narrow control of the Senate in the midterm elections. They could expand their majority in Congress’ upper chamber if incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock wins the Dec. 6 Georgia runoff over Republican candidate Herschel Walker. Neither candidate garnered 50% plus one vote required by state law, so Peach State voters will cast ballots once again. Straight Arrow News contributor Rashad Richey warns Democrats that recently-passed voting laws may impact the Georgia Senate runoff election.
So let me first start with what’s called the constitutional mandate to govern. According to the Georgia Constitution, in order to govern in a statewide elected race, you must receive 50% plus one vote. Some publications will say 51%. They are wrong. It is 50% plus one. If nobody gets 50%, plus one or more, it goes into an automatic runoff, and that’s what you have here. Some laws were passed a few years ago that we deemed voter restriction laws in the state of Georgia.
Well, what did those laws actually do? Well, a lot of people paid attention to it creating criminals out of people who simply wanted to bring water to a voting precinct; it made that a misdemeanor. That’s bad, that’s really bad. But there are some things that are actually worse. For example, they shortened the time, the window that you have, from general election to go and vote in a runoff. They shortened it. Why? Why would Republicans take that away from voters, especially during the holiday season? They did that because all of the data was clear; when Democrats have a longer time to fundraise and to get the message out, they tend to do better in the overall outcome. When there is a shorter turnaround time, the conservative candidate tends to do better due to the natural demographics of Georgia. So they shortened the window. They passed this two years ago.
Chess is what they’re playing and not checkers. What’s the difference? And I hope Democrats especially will take at least this page out of the playbook. Many of them are still playing checkers. I’m talking about my Democratic brothers and sisters as it relates to these major campaign dynamics. Checkers is when you use power to gain position. Chess is when you use position to gain power. Republicans passed these laws two years ago and some even longer in order to give their side an advantage. Now, is that right? No. Is it unethical? Of course it is.
