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US Election 2020: ‘QAnon’ supporter wins House race in Georgia
Marjorie Taylor Greene is a businesswoman and political newcomer who’s gained large followings on social media in part by posting incendiary videos and comments.
Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who expressed racist views and support for QAnon conspiracy theories, has won a House seat in Georgia.
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President Donald Trump boosted Greene’s candidacy, calling her a “future Republican Star.”
Greene was heavily favored in the conservative district even before Democratic challenger Kevin Van Ausdal suddenly dropped out in September, saying he was moving out of state.
Greene is a businesswoman and political newcomer who’s gained large followings on social media in part by posting incendiary videos and comments. She has claimed in online videos that Black and Hispanic men are being held back by “gangs and dealing drugs,” alleged an “Islamic invasion” of government offices and accused Jewish billionaire George Soros of collaborating with Nazis.
Democrats are hoping to cement control of the House for two more years with perhaps an even larger majority.
They are banking on anxiety over the pandemic, suburban indignation with President Donald Trump and a fundraising advantage.
Over a dozen incumbents of both parties from safe districts have been easily re-elected as polls are beginning to close in some eastern and Midwestern states. But early results aren’t conclusive yet in hotly contested districts in Virginia, Georgia, Ohio, and North Carolina.
Democrats are aiming to seal control of the House for two more years this Election Day.
They’re banking on voters’ dismay over the pandemic, broad suburban indignation with President Donald Trump, and dominant fundraising to make their majority even larger.
Republicans are hoping to oust at least some of the 29 Democrats in districts Trump won in 2016, most of them freshmen. But nearly all Democratic incumbents in potentially vulnerable districts have been outspending their Grand Old Party(GOP) challengers, often by vast margins.
Both parties’ operatives agree that the GOP is mostly playing defence and will be fortunate to limit Democratic gains to single digits.
Democrats are pushing to seal control of the House for two more years as they bank on their health care focus, dominant fundraising and broad suburban indignation with President Donald Trump to make their majority in the chamber even larger.
Here’s what else is going on
The third-ranking Democrat in the US House is predicting Democrats will pick up as many as a dozen House seats.
Majority Whip Jim Clyburn told reporters outside a polling place in Columbia, South Carolina, on Tuesday that he believed it would be a “good night for Democrats” up and down the ticket.
Clyburn says, “Holding the House would just be status quo. Winning the Senate would make it good.”
Democrats control the House 232-197, with five open seats and one independent. It takes 218 seats to control the chamber. Republicans control the Senate.
Clyburn has expressed concerns about voter suppression. He says President Donald Trump has been “literally stoking flames of indecision, unrest, threatening violence.”
Clyburn says the nation’s division “didn’t start with Trump, and it won’t stop with Trump.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she’s “absolutely certain” that Democrats will “solidly hold” onto their House majority.
On an Election Day conference call with reporters, the California Democrat said “this election is about nothing less than taking back the soul of America, whether our nation will follow the voices of fear or whether we will choose hope.”
Pelosi and Rep. Cheri Bustos say the party is reaching deep into Trump country to win seats. Bustos is chair of the campaign arm for House Democrats, who are well positioned to try to add longtime GOP seats in Long Island, Arkansas, Indiana, and rural Virginia.
Bustos says Democrats “are going to see some wins in those deep red districts.”
Pelosi says she’s confident Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will win the White House from President Donald Trump.
