By Ben Wynd
With the swearing in of Mark Kelly on December 2nd, 2020, the composition of the United States Senate is now 52 Republicans and 48 Democrats. Mark Kelly was elected to finish out the late John McCain’s term. On election day, Democrat John Hickenlooper ousted Republican Cory Gardner in Colorado, and Republican Tommy Tubberville ousted Democrat Doug Jones in Alabama. This means in January the Senate will remain 52R – 48D. However, Georgia might shake things up. On January 5, both senate elections will go to runoffs. No candidates in either race reached 50 percent of the vote, so the top two candidates will be on the ballot in another election. This process, exclusive to Georgia and Louisiana, may seem strange to most people, but it’s always how they’ve run their elections. The candidates in the general senate election are incumbent Republican David Perdue and challenger Democrat Jon Ossoff. The special election is between incumbent (who was also appointed by the governor) Kelly Loeffler and challenger Democrat Reverend Raphael Warnock. These competitive elections could tie the senate, making the crucial for passing any legislation Democrats may put forward.