The reelection of Republican Senator Dan Sullivan in Alaska, announced on November 11, guarantees that Republicans will retain at least 50 Senate seats in the next Congress. The final makeup of the Senate will not be known until after the January 5 runoff elections in Georgia. Under Georgia law, a candidate must obtain at least 50 percent of the vote to win a statewide election outright. No Senate candidate was able to achieve that threshold in the November election. Therefore, incumbent Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler will face Democrat Reverend Raphael Warnock in one runoff race, while incumbent Senator David Perdue will run against his Democratic challenger, Jon Ossoff, in the other. Both Loeffler and Perdue had anemic scores in the 20-29-percent range in The New American’s last “Freedom Index” (based on adherence to the Constitution), but their reelections would, at the very least, prevent Democrats from gaining control of the upper house. Sullivan barely did better, with a FI score of 30 percent.
Following Sullivan’s victory, National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) issued a statement: “I want to congratulate my fellow Marine, Senator Dan Sullivan on his victory. Alaskans know Dan as a man who always puts service before self and who has championed the unique needs of his state in Washington. The state will be well served with another six years of his representation.”
With the outcome of this year’s presidential election still uncertain, the significance of control of the Senate takes on even greater importance than usual. In Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution, we find: “The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have not Vote, unless they be equally divided.” Depending on the final disposition of the presidential election, the vice president will be either Mike Pence or Kamala Harris.
With Sullivan’s reelection, Republicans need just one of the Georgia candidates to win to hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate. However, in the unlikely event that they should both lose, we are in for at least two years of many 50-50 tied votes in the Senate, with whoever is the vice president casting the tie-breaking vote.
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