What Happened This Week In Washington — And Georgia

Amelia, that historical angle is worth remembering with Warnock’s candidacy, too, should he win. There have been 10 Black senators in U.S. history, and none have come from Georgia, even though it has one of the largest Black populations of any state in the country.

My back-of-the-napkin calculations estimate that there are about 220,000 votes remaining in DeKalb, 150,000 in Cobb, 70,000 in Chatham, 60,000 in Fulton and 60,000 in Gwinnett. All are blue counties.

It’s worth remembering that we’re watching a runoff election at all is a little odd — this is not standard operating procedure in most states, where the winner of the most votes (even if it’s a plurality) usually wins. Experts have pointed out that Georgia’s runoff system is rooted in a historic attempt to dilute Black voting power, giving white voters a second chance to mobilize to defeat Black candidates. Republicans have benefited from runoffs in recent years, but they might be rethinking it depending on how tonight shakes out.