Received two e-mails from U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D. GA). The first one is support of his colleague, Rev. Raphael Warnock’s (D. GA) re-election campaign:
U.S. Senators Raphael Warnock (D. GA) & Jon Ossoff (D. GA)
Rev. Warnock and I didn't win just because of the work we did during the Georgia runoff election.
The Reverend and I are standing on the shoulders of giants.
The heroes who gave their lives for voting rights.
The organizers and activists who have defended the franchise.
The volunteers who knocked on millions of doors and made millions of phone calls.
The struggle for justice and human rights, this effort to build the Beloved Community, it takes generations and it must be relentless. The torch is passed again and again.
There's so much good that Rev. Warnock and I can do together in the U.S. Senate to keep pushing this country forward.
But Laura, though we won this round, the fight isn't over.
The two newly elected Democratic senators from Georgia pressed White House officials and fellow Senate Democrats on Thursday to act quickly to pass a new round of stimulus checks, arguing that this promise won their party the Senate majority and needs to get done.
The comments by Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael G. Warnock during a private lunchtime call with the Senate Democratic caucus and top White House economic advisers were confirmed by several people with knowledge of them, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the discussion was private.
Ossoff and Warnock both won special elections in Georgia earlier this month on promises to deliver voters a new round of $2,000 stimulus checks if elected. President Biden made the same pledge to Georgia voters while campaigning for the two candidates, whose victories gave Democrats narrow control of the Senate.
The stimulus checks are a centerpiece of Biden’s $1.9 trillioncoronavirusrelief plan, which Democrats are aiming to move quickly through Congress in coming weeks through special budget rules that would allow them to pass the legislation without GOP votes. The checks in the Biden plan actually are $1,400 per person, but would come on top of $600 checks included in the last relief package in December, bringing the total to $2,000.
The arguments from Ossoff and Warnock in favor of fast action on the checks played into a larger sense of urgency among Democrats during the discussion Thursday that Biden’s package must be enacted swiftly, with or without GOP support. Aides to both Ossoff and Warnock declined to comment on the closed-door lunch.
The next one is in support of U.S. Senator Mark Kelly’s (D. AZ) re-election campaign:
Please take a quick minute to learn about my colleague and friend, Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona.
Mark is a former astronaut and retired U.S. Navy captain who, against all odds, defeated incumbent GOP Senator Martha McSally in Arizona's special election in 2020.
Mark's an astronaut, so he makes decisions based on data, empiricism, facts, and science.
And that's exactly what we need right now to fight this COVID-19 pandemic. Policy based on evidence, and trust in the expertise of our medical and scientific experts.
But Mark is up for re-election in 2022 — andthe GOP has already made him a top target.
I know we just went through a grueling campaign season, and this has been a brutal last year.
But there are no off-years in this struggle, Laura. Democracy requires year-round investment and work. And the Senate seats in Arizona and Georgia are VITAL to maintaining the Senate majority and passing evidence-based policy that serves the public interest.
The GOP poured in tens of millions of dollars to try to stop Mark in 2020.
Now that the GOP is justone seat awayfrom regaining the Senate and restoring McConnell as Majority Leader, there is no doubt they will double down on their efforts to defeat Mark in 2022.
Mark is already hard at work laying the foundations for another vital victory. And he needs our help today.
We've got to start organizingRIGHT NOWto keep Mark in the Senate.
Arizona Gov.Doug Ducey(R) closed the door on a potential Senate run in 2022 amid rumors that he could challenge Arizona Sen.Mark Kelly(D).
“I’m not running for the United States Senate. It’s a no. I’m 100 percent focused on being the governor of the state of Arizona,” he said in aninterview with The New York Timesthat was published Saturday. “I’ve accepted the role as the chairman of the [Republican Governors Association]. So I’ve got a full-time job and then I’ve got a full-time job beyond that. And that’s what my focus is.”
Kelly’s seat, which he won in a special election in November and is up again in 2022 for a full term, is a top priority for Republicans in the midterms. The party is eager to make up ground in the state after ceding both of its Senate seats to Democrats and losing the presidential race to PresidentJoe Biden, marking the first time a Democratic presidential nominee has won Arizona since 1996.
Arizona GOP chair Kelli Ward spent weeks relentlessly questioning the results of November’s presidential election. She emerged as a leading voice in the “Stop the Steal” movement to deny President Biden’s win, making false claimsof mass fraud.
But after Ward wasnarrowlyreelectedSaturday to her position leading the beleaguered state party, she is facing questions about the integrity of her own victory.
Sergio Arellano, a Pima County small business owner who lost to Ward by 42 votes, requested a recount of all state party races on Monday, he told The Washington Post. More than two days later, he said, Arizona state party leaders — who report to Ward — have not yet scheduled the audit, which was first reportedby the Arizona Republic.
“It shouldn’t be a big deal. If her core No. 1 issue is election integrity, then it should be a nonissue,” he said in an interview. “It should be transparent, expeditious, and let’s move on.”
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