A voter walks away after casting their ballot in Georgia's Senate runoff election on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
The stakes are high in Georgia as voters flock to the polls to decide which party will take control of the U.S. Senate. The state has been under fire this election cycle from Republican President Donald Trump and his supporters after voters flipped to elect Democrat Joe Biden in November.
Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga. 7th District), a freshman member of the 117th Congress, told Cheddar that Democrats are confident voters will carry the party across the finish line once again.
“What we’ve seen so far is that in a number of the congressional districts, the ones that are very heavily Democratic districts, we are already at 80 percent of the November 3 turnout, and in the more Republican districts, we are much, much lower,” she said.
According to Bourdeaux, Democrats reclaiming the majority in the Senate, through victories for both Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, is essential to advancing critical pieces of legislation that can immediately aid Americans.
“It is everything from actually addressing COVID, getting some relief to families that is desperately needed, to health care and reform and making sure that people have quality affordable health care, investing in education, making sure that our young people today don’t have that ball and chain of student debt around their ankle. All of this is on the line in these Senate races,” she said.
Both Republicans and Democrats have eyes on suburban Georgia as voters in those areas were instrumental in pushing the Biden-Harris ticket to victory. But when it comes to the Senate race, the suburbs are a toss-up, where, in many instances, voters supported a presidential candidate but did not necessarily vote along party lines down the entire ballot.
Bourdeaux described the suburban vote as a “make or break area for Georgia.”
“The bigger problem is that it undermines confidence in democracy…”
The newly-elected representative is also calling on Americans to be patient when it comes to getting the results of today’s runoff races, particularly after it took officials five weeks to certify Biden’s victory in the state.
“I tell everybody, ‘This is Georgia and we have to be very, very patient and wait for all of the votes to be counted.’ We do expect it to be a close race and that generally takes a lot longer,” she added.
Congress will face even more adversity this week as the body gears up to count electoral votes in the presidential contest. At least 13 senators and 140 GOP House members are expected to challenge the results, which, according to Bourdeaux, is unlikely to bear any fruit.
“The bigger problem is that it undermines confidence in democracy. It undermines confidence in the idea that people’s votes count and we need to make sure that we not only address this challenge but that we renew our democracy and make sure that people understand that it does matter if you vote. It does matter if you’re engaged,” she explained.
If Democrats do manage to win in the runoff elections, Bourdeaux said the focus has to be shifted to restoring bipartisan agreement among lawmakers as well as re-establishing integrity of the voting process in the eyes of Americans, especially for those that have not accepted the president’s loss.
Big Apple workers who deliver for food apps like Doordash and Grubhub will now receive a number of legal protections provided through a package of new regulations that have started going into effect. These updated rules include more control over their deliveries, pay and tip transparency, a higher minimum pay rate, and access to restaurant bathrooms during the workday. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander joined Cheddar to elaborate on the regulations and how the platform holders reacted. "I have to say it's a mixed bag," he said. "Grubhub actually welcomed the legislation and said they recognize they need to do better by their deliveristas, but DoorDash, unfortunately, has actually been pushing back against the legislation."
Thomas Hoenig, Former CEO of Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and currently Distinguished Senior Fellow with the Mercatus Center, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the Fed's decision was no surprise, but believes the Fed is behind the curve on raising rates.
Legal cannabis businesses are having a hard time surviving in California with the high cost of doing business and a still-thriving illicit market. In response, nonprofit Supernova Women, founded by women of color, is advocating on behalf of Black and brown shareholders in the cannabis industry. Amber Senter, co-founder, executive director, and chairman of the organization, spoke with Cheddar News about calling for changes in the Golden State's taxation system for legal marijuana. "We're really leaning on the legislators now to support the industry and make sure that this industry, in particular craft cannabis, can survive," said Senter.
After being among the hardest-hit industries by the pandemic, restaurants are still having a hard time staying afloat, with owners claiming that business is worse now due to closures from staff shortages and customer decline than it was three months ago. Mike Whatley, vice president of state affairs and grassroots advocacy for the National Restaurant Association, spoke to Cheddar News about how the sector is reaching out to lawmakers for help. "Working with Senators Wicker, Sinema, and a whole host of bipartisan leaders, we're trying to get the Restaurant Revitalization Fund replenished," Whatley said.
Communities of color are disproportionately affected by climate change and continuously feel the impacts. Mark Magaña, founding president and CEO of Green Latinos joined All Hands to discuss.
The memoir, "COMPROMISED: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump", tells a familiar story from a bit of a different source: Peter Strzok himself, former FBI Counterintelligence Agents and Agency Veteran who spent most of his very long career investigating some of the most controversial inquiries, most notably in recent American history. Those inquiries were Hillary Clinton's email to even Trump Russia investigations. Former FBI Agent and Author of "Compromised" Peter Strzok, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
President Biden's first year did not come to the close that he had hoped after last night's Senate vote blocked the voting rights bill, a priority that Biden has promoted since his inauguration. Joining us to discuss the voting rights bill, and many others passing through congress is congresswoman Lori Trahan, representing Massachusett's 3rd district.
