Our live coverage has ended. Read more about the debate here.
Both Georgia Senate candidates concluded tonight’s debate seemingly aware of the high stakes of their Jan. 5 runoff election, one that could play a part in flipping the Senate and determine the course of President-elect Joe Biden’s term.
Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler touted her record, saying she has been a “job creator in Georgia” and aimed to paint a picture of what would happen if Democrats were to control the Senate.
“Chuck Schumer said it best: ‘Now we take Georgia, then we change America.’ They would increase taxes, open borders, socialize our health care. My opponent, radical liberal Raphael Warnock, is his agent of change,” Loeffler said, adding that as senator she is working hard for “every single Georgian.”
Democratic challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock for his part, said it was time for Georgians to stand up and vote to bring change to the state.
“It’s dark right now,” he said, “But morning is on the way. It’s our job, Georgia to put our shoes on and get ready because there are those engaged in the politics of division. They have no vision and so they engage in division.”
“Tomorrow is the last day to register. Tell everybody you know to make a vote plan,” he added.
Here are some key takeaway’s from tonight’s crucial debate.
Watch Loeffler and Warnock’s closing remarks:
Democratic Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock did not give a direct yes or no answer when asked several times if he supports expanding the Supreme Court.
Asked the first time, Warnock used his response to say “People aren’t asking me about the courts and whether we should expand the courts. I know it’s an interesting question for people inside the beltway to discuss.”
Pressed again by the reporter asking the question, Warnock again didn’t give an answer.
“I’m really not focused on it. And I think that too often the politics in Washington has been about the politicians,” Warnock said, before continuing his response by talking about his focus on Georgians getting Covid-19 relief and health care.
Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler sidestepped the question on whether President Trump attacking Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and inviting Rep. Doug Collins to run against him in 2022 was wrong.
Loeffler used an often repeated line, saying, “The President has the right to pursue every legal recourse to make sure that this was a free and fair election in Georgia. And we know that these audits have turned up thousands of votes that were initially uncounted. And I’ve called for a signature audit.”
The questioner followed up, asking if the President was wrong when he called the governor those remarks.
She again avoided giving a direct answer, and said she appreciates both the President and the governor’s support of her candidacy and that they both are encouraging Georgians to vote for her and Sen. David Perdue in the runoffs on Jan. 5.
“Look, the President – I appreciate the President’s support of me and I appreciate the governor’s support of me. They both understand what’s at stake in this election. That’s why they’re encouraging Georgians to get out and vote for David Perdue and myself because we’re fighting for Georgians every single day,” Loeffler said.
The questioners then tried one more time, and this time asked it in a different way – asking if her loyalty lies with Gov. Kemp or President Trump.
Again, Loeffler did not answer the question she was asked.
“My loyalties are with Georgia. I had a calling to public service to serve the people of Georgia,” Loeffler said in response.
Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler was asked about the remarks made by Georgia elections official Gabriel Sterling last week saying that the threats of violence need to stop and if she has made an effort to help lower the temperature on behalf of the Republican Party.
Loeffler responded by saying, “As someone who has been the subject of threats of violence, I absolutely denounce it.”
Loeffler continued her response by repeating her line that Georgians need to trust the election process and that there are many investigations ongoing that need to be looked into.
“I’m gonna fight to make sure that we hold officials accountable for carrying out free, fair, trusted elections that are accurate,” Loeffler said.
Watch the moment:
Democratic Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock was questioned by his opponent, Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, about past comments he made about not being able to serve both God and the military.
Warnock defended his remarks, saying they came from a scripture he was quoting and he called out Loeffler for using her advantage as a Senator to make millions while playing it down to people she represents in Georgia.
“I was preaching that day from very familiar Matthew text that said you can’t serve God and Mammon. It was a sermon about a moral foundation for everything that we do. And that when you have everything in order, that actually makes you better solider. It also makes you better senator. And had Kelly Loeffler listened to the sermon, rather than trying to make a cheap political point, she would not have used her advantages as US senator to make millions on a pandemic while playing it down to the people she was supposed to be representing,” Warnock said.
Loeffler then responded by saying she knows the verse he references in the Bible, and she then said Warnock has also used the Bible to justify abortion.
“I don’t need a lecture from someone who has used bible to not only justify attacking our military. That’s not in Matthew 6:24. It doesn’t say you can’t serve the military and God. But he’s also used the Bible to justify abortion. I cannot stand by and let Georgians not know who my opponent is, how radical his views are, and how he would fundamentally change our country. He’s out of step with Georgia’s values,” Loeffler responded.
Watch the moment:
Democratic candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock challenged incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler on her stance on criminal justice reform following this year’s civil unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd.
Warnock said that he does not believe in defunding the police, but that criminal justice reform is necessary.
“We need to make sure that we have an independent review process when civilians die at the hands of police,” he said.
Loeffler was questioned about her comments calling the Black Lives Matter movement “fascist” and how taking that stance alienated members of the Atlanta Dream, the WNBA team she owns.
Loeffler was asked if that’s still her view. Loeffler didn’t give an answer to that question and instead pivoted to saying she stands with law enforcement while her opponent has called police officers out.
“The life of every African American is important and there is no place for racism in this country. But there are organizations whose number one goal is to defund the police. And we know that that hurts minority communities more than anyone. And we have to stand with our men and women of law enforcement,” Loeffler responded.
See more:
Democratic Georgia Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock this evening took his Republican opponent Sen. Kelly Loeffler to task for the current stalemate in Congress over another round of financial relief for Americans suffering due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Parrying accusations from Loeffler on his position on police reform, Warnock said the people of Georgia were much more concerned about paying their bills and feeding their families.
“They’re wondering when in the world are they going to get some Covid-19 relief,” Warnock said.
“They haven’t gotten any from Kelly Loeffler in months and when she had a chance to stand up for ordinary people, she thought $600 was too much,” he said, referring to $600 per week supplemental jobless benefit that has been promoted by some Democrats in Congress.
Republican leadership in the Senate is currently in negotiations with President Trump and Democratic leadership on a deal that could provide some relief for Americans before lawmakers head home for the holidays.
See the moment:
Democratic candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock challenged Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler about dumping millions of dollars of stock at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and then calling an extra $600 of relief to Georgians counterproductive.
“I’ve been completely exonerated. Those are lies perpetrated by the left-wing media and Democrats to distract from their radical agenda,” Loeffler said.
Warnock pushed back and said that if it were up to Loeffler, Georgians would not have received the $600 of expanded unemployment benefits provided by Congress.
Some background: Earlier this year, a number of senators came under fire for stock sales after Covid-19 tanked the stock market. Loeffler and others faced questions about why they were selling stocks in February, before the stock market took a nosedive as the outbreak spread across the US and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost roughly 30% of its value.
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Georgia’s incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her Democratic opponent, Rev. Raphael Warnock, both said at tonight’s debate that they would take a coronavirus vaccine, when it is ready and deemed safe.
Warnock, who was asked the question first, said he would take and promote a vaccine, and also work to ensure underprivileged populations are not at the back of the line.
“When our health professionals tell us that we have a vaccine that works and is effective and safe, I will take it,” he said. “I will encourage the folks who listened to me, people who were in my church and in the community to take it.”
“Also I will try to work hard as a senator to make sure that communities that are so often marginalized don’t find themselves at the back of the line again,” he added.
Loeffler said she would also take it, and used the opportunity to promote her relationship with the outgoing Trump administration.
“Absolutely,” she said, when asked by the moderator if she would take and promote a vaccine.
“I was with Vice President [Mike] Pence on Friday at the CDC, I could not be more proud of what we’ve done this year to deliver relief, but also get cures,” she said.
“I’m going to encourage my fellow Georgians to stay safe, get that vaccine, and we have a great plan to prioritize those communities who need it most and we will make sure that that’s carried out,” she added.
Watch more:
Democratic challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock pressed Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler on whether or not she believes President Trump lost the election during tonight’s debate.
“My question is actually pretty simple, yes or no, Sen. Loeffler: Did Donald Trump lose the presidential election?” Warnock asked.
Loeffler declined to directly address the question.
“President Trump has every right to use every legal recourse available,” Loeffler said, adding that she is pushing for a signature audit in the state.
Watch more:
In the first question of tonight’s debate, Georgia Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler was asked if she stands by President Trump’s narrative that the election was rigged and if she supports his demand for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to call a special session to overturn the results.
Loeffler didn’t give an answer but said that “the President has every right to every legal recourse and that’s what’s taking place.”
She continued by saying, “the President was clear that Georgians need to come out and vote for David Perdue and myself because of what’s in stake at this election.”
The reporter asking the question followed up by asking her to clarify if she thinks the election was rigged. Again, Loeffler didn’t give a clear answer but instead said, “it’s very clear that there were issues in this election.”
Later on in the debate, Democratic challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock told Loeffler that it is time to put claims of election fraud “behind us” and focus on the concerns of “ordinary people.”
“Here we are several weeks after the election and Kelly Loeffler continues to cast doubt on an American democratic election. It’s time to put this behind us and get focused on the concerns of ordinary people,” Warnock said.
Remember: There has been no evidence of widespread election fraud. Biden won Georgia by more than 12,000 votes, becoming the first Democratic presidential nominee to win the Peach State in nearly three decades.
Kemp certified the results of Biden’s victory on Nov. 20, following a statewide audit, which included a hand-count of the nearly 5 million ballots cast in the election.
Georgia’s incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler began tonight’s debate by repeatedly seeking to portray her Democratic opponent, Rev. Raphael Warnock, as a radical who has little place in the Peach State’s politics.
Just moments into the debate, Loeffler referred to the reverend as “radical liberal Raphael Warnock” and accused him of a number of statements and behaviors he has denied.
“The Democrats want to fundamentally change America and the agent of change is my opponent, radical liberal Raphael Warnock,” she said.
“That’s not what Georgians need to get through this pandemic and get our economy going,” she added. “I’m fighting for the American Dream every day.”
Just moments later, she again called Warnock “radical” and said she was out to stop him.
“I cannot stand by and let Georgians not know who my opponent is, how radical his views are, and how he would fundamentally change our country,” she said. “He’s out of step with Georgia’s values.”
Watch the moment:
Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock in his opening remarks drew a contrast between his experience and the American Dream.
“We have to make sure that we center ordinary people in all the policy we do,” Warnock said.
Warnock added that he’s concerned that Washington is not focused on ordinary people.
“You can’t tell the difference between Washington back rooms and corporate boardrooms. My opponent represents the worst of that kind of problem,” he said.
Watch more:
Georgia’s incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her Democratic opponent, Rev. Raphael Warnock, are debating now in Atlanta ahead of the key Jan. 5 runoff election.
In this debate, the moderator will provide opening statements for the candidates, according to the Atlanta Press Club. The debate is divided into three rounds, with the first one involving each candidate being asked at least one question by a panelist.
In the second round, the candidates will be allowed to ask their opponents at least one question, with time for a rebuttal. The third round involves panelists taking turns asking a question to a candidate of their choice until time runs out.
The debate is streaming live here on CNNgo and on CNN.com’s homepage and across mobile devices via CNN’s apps for iOS and Android with a log-in to a cable provider.
With all eyes on Georgia’s two runoff elections that will determine the balance of power in the Senate, two of the candidates are set to debate each other on Sunday evening and get the opportunity to present their case weeks before the contests take place.
Here’s what you need to know about tonight’s face-off:
The homeowner in Duluth, Georgia, opened her screen door and softly said, “I’m not good at English.” The two volunteers, clutching clipboards and political fliers, were on the Korean woman’s porch to talk about the Jan. 5 Senate runoffs.
“I speak some Korean,” said Grace Pai, in Korean. “It’s terrible,” Pai added in broken Korean. Pai explained how she and her fellow volunteer, Syed Hussain, were canvassing houses for the Asian American Advocacy Fund to talk to Asian American voters for Democratic challengers in the runoffs.
“My mother immigrated to the US from Korea as a girl,” explained Pai. The homeowner, delighted to hear her native language, explained to the canvassers how much affordable health care meant to her family.
Pai pressed the woman to send her absentee ballot in by mail for Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock.
As Pai and Hussain left the woman’s porch, the homeowner pumped her fist in the air, promising she would.
Conversations like these are key for volunteers who believe the only chance to flip the two Republican Senate seats in Georgia to the Democrats is through broad based coalitions, which includes Asian Americans.
In the state where President-elect Joe Biden defeated President Trump by just 12,284 votes in November, activists say there’s little question the surge in Asian American voters helped flip the state in November.
They just have to reach them.
“It’s counties like this, at least in my view, that gave Joe Biden that win,” said Hussain, 21. The college student grew up in Gwinnett County, which has seen Korean immigrants drive the growth of Asian Americans in the Atlanta suburbs.
Across the entire Atlanta metro area, the Asian American and Pacific Islander electorate has grown significantly in recent years — mirroring the trend of the increasing and diversifying population across the state — specifically in and around the capital city of Atlanta.
While AAPIs are a small share of the electorate in Georgia, the number of Asian American voters grew seven times as much as other racial and ethnic groups combined.
Republican Sen. David Perdue did not accept the invitation of the Atlanta Press Club for tonight’s Senate debate against his opponent, Democrat Jon Ossoff.
As a result, Perdue was represented on stage by an empty podium and Ossoff answered questions solo.
Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democratic challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock meanwhile are set to debate tonight at 7 p.m. ET. Both accepted the invitation to debate each other on stage.
Ossoff was asked if he would be supportive of a new lockdown if public health officials recommended that it would help mitigate the virus.
Ossoff kicked off his response by saying that he would take his cues from the leadership of the Center for Disease Control, but quickly turned his response to calling out Perdue for his absence and his response to the pandemic.
He described Perdue as “arrogant” for not being at the debate to answer questions and “arrogant” for disregarding public health expertise.
Ossoff also repeatedly called out Perdue’s stock trading – for which he has not been indicted for – at the start of the pandemic and said “he’s not here because he’s afraid he may incriminate himself in this debate.”
The Democratic challenger urged Perdue to release any evidence of being cleared, if he has it.
“He can’t defend the indefensible. He’s rubbing it in our noses that he’s been using his office to enrich himself and he’s been getting away with it,” Ossoff said.
Ossoff continued by saying that “The standard for our elected officials must be higher than merely evading prosecution.”
Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and her Democratic opponent Rev. Raphael Warnock are set to face off in a debate tonight at 7 p.m. ET ahead of a pivotal runoff election next month.
An intense national spotlight is focused on the race and the stakes are high since its outcome, along with the result of a second Georgia runoff in January between GOP Sen. David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, will determine control of the Senate in the new Congress.
If either Republican incumbent holds onto their seat, the GOP will be poised to maintain its Senate majority. But if both Democrats win, it would bring the balance of power to 50-50 in the upper chamber with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris able to step in and cast tie breaking votes.
The two Senate races advanced to a January runoff after none of the candidates cleared a 50% vote threshold in November to win outright.
The Senate races have been overshadowed at times by Georgia’s presidential election results, where President-elect Joe Biden turned the state blue for the first time in 28 years. Trump has blamelessly alleged voter fraud in the state and attacked statewide officials including Republicans Gov. Brian Kemp and secretary of state Brad Raffensperger.
On Saturday night: Trump stumped for Loeffler and Perdue at a Valdosta, Georgia, rally, but once again falsely claimed he won the state and warned without evidence that the runoffs in January could be rigged. CNN has previously reported that Republicans were concerned that Trump could depress turnout among his base if he continued to rail against Georgia’s election system.
At one point, Trump welcomed Loeffler and Perdue to the stage for very brief remarks at the rally, but both senators were immediately interrupted with chants of “Stop the Steal” and “Fight for Trump.”
The focus of the political world has increasingly turned to what’s happening in Georgia for one key reason: the Jan. 5 runoff election will decide which party controls the Senate.
If either of the incumbent Republicans — Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue — hold onto their seats, the party will retain its majority control in the chamber.
If Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock both prevail, however, Democrats would gain control of the Senate thanks to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote.
Loeffler and her Democratic challenger Warnock are set to debate tonight. Perdue declined an invitation to debate Ossoff.
Trump traveled to the Peach State on Saturday to campaign for Loeffler and Perdue. Former President Barack Obama meanwhile is prominently featured in a new television ad for Ossoff, pitching him as an injustice-fighting crusader who will pass a new Voting Rights Act and “listen to the experts” in combating the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 940,000 mail-in ballots have been requested in Georgia for the runoff election. Georgia voters are required to request absentee ballots again for the runoff, even if they voted absentee in November, except those over the age of 65, members of the military or physically disabled people who requested absentee ballots for the entire election cycle.
Republicans are struggling to encourage voters to back incumbent Kelly and Perdue as Trump continues to cast doubt on the results of the presidential election.
