After Democratic representative Joe Biden won the US presidential election, all eyes were on the US Senate runoffs to determine which party will control the Senate. And the people of Georgia spoke. Specifically, Black women spoke.

On January 5, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of the Democratic party were elected to the Senate and won against fellow candidates of the Republican party, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. Therefore, three new members were added to the Senate: Alex Padilla, who’s California’s first Latino senator, Ossoff, who’s the first Jewish senator from the state, and Warnock, who’s the first Black senator from Georgia. 

Though among the many reasons for the change of Georgia to the Democratic party, voters of color pushed through to lead Ossoff and Warnock to win the Georgia Senate. 

With organizations led by Black women leaders such as The New Georgia Project (founded by Nse Ufot), Women on the Rise (founded by Marilynn Winn), and Georgia Stand up (founded by Deborah Scott). All tried to make known the need for people to be informed on their voting rights and persuade a change within Georgia. 

They advocated through ways, including putting up billboards in low-income communities and helping voters register. Felicia Davis, a political organizer in Georgia, had teenagers paid $15/hour to knock door to door all in an effort to turn the state blue.

“Georgia doesn’t turn blue without the determined organizing of activists and leaders in communities of color, particularly the Black community. House Democrats flipped two Trump-lean districts by investing early, hiring talented organizers with deep ties to their communities, and engaging the people of color who have spent years working to move Georgia forward,” said Robyn Patterson, the national press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Ossoff and Warnock’s win for the Georgia Senate results made history, since Georgia hadn’t voted a candidate of the Democratic party in a presidential election since 1992 and elected a statewide Democratic candidate since 2006. 

With this win, Democrats had obtained a 50-50 split in the U.S Senate while Kamala Harris, vice president of the United States and Democrat, can break the tie within the chamber. 

A major reason for the Democratic victory in Georgia was the effort of organizations that pushed for the vision of a blue Georgia.