Georgia Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler will take the White House support whenever they can get it.
The White House’s first backing of the Republican senators’ elections will come Friday when Vice President Mike Pence will join a bus tour with two rallies for the high-stakes runoff election that will decide Senate control on Jan. 5.
The “Defend the Majority Rally” will be staged in conservative counties with north Georgia stops in Canton and Gainesville.
Republicans hold a 50-48 Senate advantage heading into Perdue’s runoff against Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff and Loeffler’s runoff against Democratic challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock. In the case of a split Senate, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would cast the tie-breaking vote.
That is a tricky talking point for Republicans if President Donald Trump does not concede the presidential race, considering it would be Pence himself breaking the tie if Trump were to prevail. The Trump campaign’s election lawsuits in Georgia were dismissed or deemed not possible to affect outcomes.
Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida already have campaigned in Georgia for Perdue and Loeffler. North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis also indicated he would support his party brethren there. The Republican National Committee is injecting $20 million of backing into the runoff election.
President Donald Trump has not committed to influencing turnout, but he absolutely will. His defeat, particularly a Republican presidential candidate’s first loss in Georgia in 28 years, is expected to drive voters to try to curb or continue the momentum.
“I can’t think of a better way for him to get revenge on Democrats than to get those two seats,” Republican strategist Scott Jennings told the Associated Press.
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