Kemp Fed Up; Huge Early Vote; Trumps, Harris To Rally: GA Runoff

GEORGIA — More than 1.1 million Georgians had voted through Thursday in the U.S. Senate runoff, almost as many as had voted at this point ahead of the presidential election. In fact, 15 percent of Georgia’s 7.7 million registered voters have already voted so far. About 5 million Georgians voted in the Nov. 3 election.

Runoffs usually draw far less interest than general elections, but Georgia’s races that will determine control of the U.S. Senate have drawn general-election-level attention.

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, at least 150,000 people voted in advance every day since Monday, when early voting started. Those votes won’t be counted until the evening of the election after polls close.

In addition, nearly 76,000 new Georgia voters registered in time for the runoff, according to Fox News. More than half of them are younger than 35.

The high turnout suggests the runoff will be just as close as the general election was, according to one expert who's tracking the election. “This is going to be a really close election,” said political scientist Michael McDonald of the University of Florida, as reported by Reuters.

Trumps, VP-Elect Harris Set To Campaign In Georgia Before Runoff

Both Republicans and Democrats are sending their heavy hitters to Georgia to rally support ahead of the Jan. 5 U.S. Senatorial runoff.

Donald Trump Jr. will headline three “Defend the Majority” rallies in rural Georgia: one on Friday night is Ocilla for U.S. Senator David Perdue; and two on Saturday for Perdue and U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler, one in Brooklet and one in Ringgold. For information on each rally, click the city name for a link.

On Monday, both Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and Ivanka Trump will visit Georgia. Exact times are yet to be announced, but both will visit Suwanee on metro Atlanta’s north edge. Harris will also visit Columbus, while Trump is scheduled to visit Walton County and Milton.

Cobb County Denies Hearings To Three Elections Challenges

The Cobb County Board of Elections denied hearings to three separate challenges Friday that would have disqualified thousands of voters ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff. Read the complete Patch story here.

Kemp 'Fed Up' With Harassment But Won't Blame Trump

Gov. Brian Kemp said Thursday he was “fed up” with character attacks toward him and threats toward his family since he certified the Georgia vote.

“It has gotten ridiculous — from death threats, (claims of) bribes from China, the social media posts that my children are getting,” Kemp said, as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We have the ‘no crying in politics rule’ in the Kemp house. But this is stuff that, if I said it, I would be taken to the woodshed and would never see the light of day.”

Kemp, who spoke with reporters after the coronavirus vaccine was rolled out at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, said he was especially angry at attacks directed toward his daughter Lucy. Harrison Deal, Lucy’s boyfriend and a campaign worker for Loeffler, was killed in a fiery car crash on Dec. 4 that's become the subject of conspiracy theories.

“I can assure you I can handle myself,” Kemp told reporters. “And if (the people threatening Kemp’s daughter) are brave enough to come out from underneath that keyboard or behind it, we can have a little conversation if they would like to.”

Kemp, however, refused to blame President Donald Trump, who’s tweeted that the governor was a “clown” and a “fool” for not supporting his efforts to overturn the results of the Georgia election. President-elect Joe Biden beat Trump by about 12,000 votes in Georgia, with votes counted three times and the results certified by Kemp twice.