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November 22, 2022  | by Fredreka Schouten

GEORGIA ON OUR MINDS

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

In the world of politics, all eyes are on Georgia where, once again, a runoff will decide a US Senate contest. This time around, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock -- who became the state’s first Black US senator after winning a special election runoff last year -- faces Republican challenger Herschel Walker in the December 6 election.

The race is attracting big names and big money as both sides work to boost turnout. Former President Barack Obama will join Warnock on the campaign trail December 1, and newly reelected GOP Gov. Brian Kemp is stumping with Walker and helping with his turnout operation.

Warnock got roughly 36,400 more votes than Walker did in the November 8 general election, but Georgia mandates a runoff if no candidate surpasses the 50% threshold to win outright.

Although Democrats will control the Senate chamber in January, the runoff remains crucial to both parties. If Warnock wins a full six-year term, Democrats will hold 51 seats in the 100-person chamber and will no longer have to operate under the current power-sharing agreement that relies on Vice President Kamala Harris to break tie votes in Democrats’ favor.

Since November 9, the candidates and groups backing them have plowed $40 million into advertising – including reservations for future ads, according to my colleague David Wright’s tally of data compiled by AdImpact, which tracks political advertising.

Democrats accounted for a little more than 60% of the ad spending as of Monday morning.

And as CNN’s Dan Merica and Eva McKend recently reported, groups like the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund -- a GOP super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell -- also are spending millions of dollars to persuade voters who may be weary of electioneering to cast ballots yet again.

SHORTENED TIMELINE

It’s not just voters who are tired.

Georgia election workers, who have just wrapped up the general election, are turning immediately to jobs associated with carrying out the next election, such as processing voter registration applications that arrived before the November 7 deadline and testing voting equipment.

A law passed last year in Georgia shortened the runoff time period from nine weeks to roughly four.

“It’s pretty hectic,” Gwinnett County election supervisor Zach Manifold told me this week. “I’ve told everybody that it’s sort of like, ‘Congratulations. You did everything really well in 90 days. Now, let’s see if you can do it in 28 days.’”

The election staff in Gwinnett, a suburb of Atlanta, has worked nonstop, he said. One of his goals, Manifold said, is to guarantee that everyone gets at least one day off this week: Thanksgiving Day.

Early voting will be allowed this Saturday – a victory for Warnock and Democrats -- after a Georgia appeals court on Monday denied the state’s appeal of a lower court ruling that had allowed voting on the Saturday after a holiday.

MIDTERM MILESTONES

The midterms set some new milestones in electoral politics.

With her victory in the Los Angeles mayoral race, Democrat Karen Bass will become the first woman and the first Black woman to lead California’s largest city.

Her victory means, as CNN’s Nicole Chavez notes, that America’s four largest cities will be run by African Americans: Bass in Los Angeles, Eric Adams in New York, Lori Lightfoot in Chicago and Sylvester Turner in Houston.

This election also saw women gain ground at the state level.

A record number of women -- 12 -- will serve as governors next year. Up until this year’s midterms, nine women were the most to have served as governors at the same time, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

And Pluribus News notes that women gained control of the majority in the Colorado state legislature, making it the second state, after Nevada, where women outnumber men in the state legislative body.

CNN’s Gregory Krieg and Andrew Menezes highlighted more of the history made in the midterms here.

YOU NEED TO READ

• This piece by CNN’s Tierney Sneed about the impact of former President Donald Trump’s 2024 candidacy on his legal woes.

• Ron Brownstein’s examination of the influence Republicans still hold in red states, despite Democrats’ better-than-expected performance in the midterms and what that means for the country’s partisan divide over civil liberties.

• This piece on threats forcing authorities to move the chairman of the board of supervisors in Maricopa County, Arizona, to an undisclosed location on Election Day.

The University of Washington's Kate Starbird joined CNN journalists Donie O'Sullivan, Daniel Dale and Sean Lyngaas to separate fact from fiction when it comes to accusations of widespread voter fraud in the midterm elections. Click here to watch.

WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO HERE

Our goal is to help guide conversations about the battle for voting rights in a critical year for American democracy. We’re sharing the latest developments in the battle for ballot access, hearing from experts, answering your questions and providing practical information about how to vote this year. Look for it in your inbox every Tuesday – along with a way to sign up for the free weekly CITIZEN BY CNN events. And, please, drop us a line to let us know what you think: [email protected]. And get your friends to subscribe here.