Vice President-elect Kamala Harris traveled to Georgia on Monday to campaign for Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, warning voters that “everything is at stake” in the upcoming Senate elections on Jan. 5. 

What You Need To Know

  • Vice President-elect Kamala Harris campaigned for Georgia Senate Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock on Monday

  • Ossoff and Warnock are running against incumbent Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively

  • Harris told the crowd in Columbus, Georgia that electing Ossoff and Warnock will be crucial to passing Joe Biden's agenda next year

  • Should Democrats win both Georgia seats, a 50-50 tie in the Senate will see Harris breaking any deadlocks in the chamber

Ossoff and Warnock are running against incumbent Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively. Should Democrats win both seats, a 50-50 tie in the Senate will see Harris breaking any deadlocks in the chamber, which could prove crucial as Biden attempts to build his cabinet and advance legislative aims, including comprehensive COVID-19 relief.

Harris hammered home the message that Ossoff and Warnock’s ascension to the United States Senate will be crucial to passing Joe Biden’s agenda next year.

"2020 ain't over until January 5th,” Harris told a crowd in Columbus on Monday, adding: "Everything that was at stake in November is at stake leading up to January 5th." 

“Send these two, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to the United States Senate, to say it is us, the people of Georgia, who will make a decision. It will not be made for us, we will decide who represents us,” Harris said. “When we look at the slogan, it’s about health, it’s about jobs, it’s about justice. That represents some of the most important voices that must be heard and it cannot be overlooked. Raphael and Jon will do that.” 

Senator Harris spoke of the power each individual Senator holds in determining history, invoking the late Arizona Sen. John McCain’s decisive thumbs-down vote on blocking the repeal of key sections of the Affordable Care Act in 2017.

"Georgia, Columbus, you have the power to send two [senators],” Harris said of the opportunity before Georgia voters. “The decisions you make, the work you put into it, will impact people who you may never meet. People who may never know your names … it is within our power to change the course of history of this country.”

Ossoff and Warnock reiterated Harris’ message, pledging to work alongside the incoming administration on behalf of Georgians should they be elected to the Senate next month. 

"Let’s be very clear about the stakes of these elections, because if Mitch McConnell continues to control the U.S. Senate, he will try to do to Joe and Kamala just like he tried to do to president Obama,” Ossoff said Monday, the same statement he delivered when campaigning alongside President-elect Biden last week. 

"Think about how far we’ve come in the state of Georgia, now the most competitive battleground state in the United States, hosting two U.S. Senate runoffs for control of the US Senate," Ossoff added. 

Warnock also mentioned the historic nature of Georgia’s elections in his Monday address, encouraging attendees to cast their ballots as soon as possible.

 “Welcome to the new Georgia, welcome to the Blue Georgia,” Warnock said. “We should no longer be talking about Election Day, there’s no such thing— it’s election season.”

Ossoff, Warnock, and Harris slammed attempts by the president and his allies to call into question the results of the November elections. Both of the state’s GOP senators are staunch allies of President Trump, and while Perdue has tacitly acknowledged Biden’s win, Loeffler has awarded no such concession.

In the fight to retain her U.S. Senate seat, Loeffler has boasted she is “more conservative than Attila the Hun” and has a “100% Trump voting record.” She has backed the president’s baseless allegations of voting fraud and rallied with a far-right candidate who expressed support for a conspiracy theory that sees Democrats as part of a Satanic child sex ring.

Both President Trump and President-elect Biden have stumped in the state on behalf of their party’s candidates – but in some cases, they could be a drag on their chances.

Though Trump is the first Republican since 1992 to lose Georgia, he’s so far refused to concede; instead, in an extraordinary rebuke, he’s repeatedly disparaged Georgia’s Republican governor and secretary of state for not helping him throw out ballots. This week, he even retweeted that the pair are going to jail.

Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, appeared in Georgia on Monday alongside both Loeffler and Perdue at a rally in Milton. 

“We want a culture where differences of opinion are encouraged, not cancelled,” Ivanka Trump said Monday. “Where law enforcement is respected, where our country’s rich diversity is celebrated and where people of all backgrounds, races, genders, and creeds can achieve their God-given potential.”

Biden campaigned for the two Democrats last week in Atlanta, emphasizing how crucial their votes would be on coronavirus aid.

“Your two Republican Senators are not supporting that kind of package,” Biden told Georgians. “Both Jon and Raphael do. There is so much more we can get done.”

"Send me these two men, and we will control the Senate, and we will change the lives of people in Georgia,” Biden added. “Go out and vote."

Democrats will continue to narrowly hold the U.S. House of Representatives, meaning depending on what happens next month, the party could have full control of the presidency and Congress. Biden’s nominations, and his priorities on such issues as the pandemic, the economy, the environment, and race relations are at stake.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.