On January 5, Republicans anxiously watched their television screens as votes poured in across the state of Georgia. With former President Donald Trump P’00 losing the U.S. presidential election on November 3, the GOP set its sights on the Georgia runoff elections, determined to retain a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate in order to block President Joe Biden’s progressive agenda.
Despite Republican incumbents Senator David Perdue and Senator Kelly Loeffler remaining in the lead for much of the night, Democratic challengers Senator-Elect Reverend Raphael Warnock and Senator-Elect Jon Ossoff bounced back and secured victory in the early hours of January 6. To the GOP’s disappointment, the Democratic Party took control of the presidency and both chambers of Congress for the first time since 2008. For at least the next two years, the GOP is at the mercy of the Biden administration.
Democratic challenger Reverend Raphael Warnock defeated Republican incumbent Senator Kelly Loeffler in the Georgia runoff election on January 5. Photo courtesy of NPR
As a result, Republicans will have to cajole moderate Democrats into halting some of the Biden administration’s policies.
Republicans will be tending to their wounds with no leverage in Congress until at least the midterm elections, in 2022, all the while blaming Trump for their losses. The former president’s rhetoric cost the GOP the presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives for the first time in twelve years. This will likely be a wake-up call for Republicans, forcing the GOP to disband Trumpism and reimagine the future of the party.
The Trump administration spent November, December, and the beginning of January attempting to steal the U.S. presidential election from President Biden. Trump engaged in pointless court battles, attempted to coerce state legislatures to not certify electoral votes, and tried to halt the certification of the electoral college results in Congress. Although Trump endorsed both Perdue and Loeffler and held rallies in their support, his baseless claims about the presidential election ruined any chance for Republican victories.
The Trump administration’s cries of election fraud distracted crucial Republican voters in Georgia. One of Trump’s attorneys went as far as to encourage Republicans to abstain from voting. Without the false claims made by Trump and his allies and the unfounded discussion of the legitimacy of the electoral process, the GOP would have likely succeeded in holding onto at least one Senate seat.
Unfortunately for the party, the GOP realized far too late the dire consequences of fueling Trump’s desperate claims.
While the Trump administration’s policies may continue to influence the GOP, it is unlikely that a candidate with the same divisive rhetoric will become the face of the party in the future. A new path will have to be forged in order for the GOP to regain its momentum. We are likely to see a greater effort taken to work across the political aisle; the Republican Party has a lot of ground to cover in recruiting the middle-of-the-road supporters that Trump’s extremism ostracized.
