Jon Ossoff, pictured on Tuesday, has declared himself winner of his senate race against sitting Republican Senator David Purdue. If correct, that would put Democrats in control of the Senate, as well as the House of Representatives (Picture: Getty)
Democrats say they have won both of Georgia’s nailbiting senate elections, giving them a majority entire US Congress. Jon Ossoff called himself as winner against sitting Republican rival David Perdue on Wednesday morning, although Republicans say it is still too early to announce a definitive result.
Official election forecasters have also yet to call a winner. Associated Press counters says Ossoff leads Perdue by fewer than 20,000 votes, with most of the remaining ballots coming from areas that lean towards his Democrat party.
Ossoff’s call came hours after his fellow Democrat Raphael Warnock ousted sitting Republican Kelly Loeffler from her seat in the Southern state. Loeffler – a top Donald Trump ally – has so far refused to concede.
Confirmation of Ossoff’s win would wipe out the majority held by Donald Trump’s Republican party in the upper house of the US Congress, the Senate.
Joe Biden’s Democrat party already controls the lower house, the House of Representatives.
Having control of both houses would mean President-elect Biden, who is due to be inaugurated on January 20, has sweeping powers to enforce planned legislation, and dismantle President Trump’s legacy.
President Trump took to Twitter in the early hours of Wednesday to claim 4,000 votes had mysteriously appeared in Georgia’s Fulton County, which encompasses the state’s largest city, Atlanta.
The president’s claim – which was not backed up by any evidence – was quickly fact-checked by Twitter.
On Tuesday, Trump claimed voting machines had stopped working, with both attempts to call fraud similar to the tactics he has continued to use to contest Joe Biden’s presidential election win.
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