In Georgia’s key Senate runoff, a clichéd political adage could actually prove true: It may all come down to who turns out.
Top Democrats and Republicans alike acknowledge the uniqueness of Georgia’s December 6 Senate runoff has put an increased focus on the ability of Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker to turn out voters who may be tired of participating in yet another election, causing campaigns, committees and outside groups to spend millions solely on get out the vote efforts.
While Senate control is not on the line in Georgia – Democrats kept control of the legislative body with a win in Nevada earlier this month – a win in the Southern state would allow the party to exit the power sharing agreement with Republicans. Republicans, fresh off taking control of the House of Representatives, would like to build on their wins and keep Democrats from padding their narrow Senate majority.
The reason for the focus on getting out the vote primarily stems from the reality that the pool of voters eligible to vote in the runoff will be the same as the general election, meaning groups cannot register new voters ahead of the key contest. That is because Georgia’s 2021 voting law makes it impossible to register new voters before a runoff that is only one month after the general election.
Because of that, the spending on getting out already registered voters is intensifying.
On Thursday, the Warnock campaign – in collaboration with the state’s coordinated campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee – said it plans to add roughly 300 more paid staffers to its voter contact program, bringing the total of paid staffers focused on turning out voters to 900, a sizable number for a single Senate race. Part of this effort is funded by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which announced this month they planned to spend $7 million on field organizing efforts in Georgia.
The operation will be run out of 19 offices in 18 counties across the state, with the goal of knocking on as many doors ahead of the runoff as they did in the four months before the general.
“Reverend Warnock knows what it takes to win a runoff in Georgia,” Warnock campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said. “The Warnock campaign has built a robust field operation to turn out voters across the state and re-elect Reverend Warnock.”
With money beginning to flow into the state, some Democratic aligned groups are hoping to see some of that funding given to local groups focused on turnout.
A Democratic operative familiar with the spending plans of Georgia-based activist groups Unite Here, Asian American Advocacy Fund, Mijente PAC and Black Voters Matter told CNN that the coalition is several million dollars short to execute their get out the vote programs ahead of the runoff.