Politico: “In interviews with more than two dozen voters in the state over the weekend, not a single person told Politico they thought Joe Biden won the election, despite two recounts in Georgia and elections being certified in enough states for him to be above 270 electoral college votes. … But all of the voters said they planned to vote again on Jan. 5, heeding calls from Trump, Pence and most every other Republican to show up again.”

FiveThirtyEight: “We don’t have a ton of polls of these runoffs yet, but FiveThirtyEight is rolling out its polling averages for both of the contests today to help everyone keep tabs on where things stand…”

“And based on the initial wave of polls conducted since the Nov. 3 general election, both runoff races look very close. In the regularly scheduled Senate race, Republican Sen. David Perdue is roughly tied with Democrat Jon Ossoff, while in the special election, Democrat Raphael Warnock holds a narrow lead over Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler.”

Georgia U.S, Senate candidate Jon Ossoff (D) tweeted a chicken emoji after Sen. David Perdue (R) didn’t show up for their scheduled debate saying Perdue’s “handlers won’t let him debate because he could incriminate himself on the Cardlytics emails, the submarine stock trades, or the Regions Bank deal — that alone is disqualifying.”

Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) refused to debate challenger Jon Ossoff tonight, so he’s being represented by an empty podium.

“Friends of mine say we are not going to vote because we are angry about the presidential election. Don’t listen to my friends.”

— President Trump, quoted by Politico, urging Georgia Republicans to vote in the Senate runoffs.

New York Times: “New campaign financial reports filed late Thursday showed a staggering influx of money into the state in the first days of runoffs that were expected to set spending records, with more than $300 million booked in television, radio and digital ads, according to data from AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm. Media buyers said the price of ads was soaring, especially for super PACs, to unseen heights.”

“Republicans fully expect President Donald Trump to create some awkward moments at a Saturday rally in Georgia that’s ostensibly designed to help Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in their runoff campaigns,” McClatchy reports.

“They anticipate he’ll continue to bitterly contest the state’s presidential result, castigate top GOP officials who have certified Joe Biden’s victory and perhaps devote more time relitigating the November election than the two critical races that culminate in January 2021.”

“But warts and all, they still think they may not be able to win without him.”

“President Trump’s planned trip to Georgia on Saturday to campaign for two Senate candidates embroiled in tight runoff races has put some Republicans on edge that he could do more harm than good by repeating false claims about the voting system, attacking GOP officials and further inflaming a simmering civil war within the state party,” the Washington Post reports.

“That war showed no signs of abating this week, with competing GOP factions growing increasingly angry and distrustful of one another.”

Los Angeles Times: Tumult in Georgia signals Trump’s post-presidency challenge for GOP.

Georgia officials tell Fox News they are investigating a Florida attorney for attempting to vote illegally for the Republican candidates in the state’s Jan. 5 Senate runoff, after a video emerged of him stating his intent to move to Georgia temporarily and encouraging others to use his relative’s address to do the same.

Bloomberg: “Including TV, radio, and digital ad space already purchased over the past month or reserved through Jan. 5, Republicans are set to spend more than $177 million, compared to about $130 million for Democrats… The numbers are likely to increase.”

Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) condemns her Senate runoff challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock (D) as the “most radical and dangerous candidate in America” who “has espoused radical views from the pulpit.”

But Judd Legum reports that less than a year ago, she shared that same pulpit with Warnock in order to praise his work and that of his church. Loeffler called Warnock’s church a “sacred place” in her January address and, while standing right next to her future rival, said she was “surrounded by men and women who advance the cause of freedom.”

“Some establishment Republicans are sounding alarms that President Trump’s conspiratorial denials of his own defeat could threaten the party’s ability to win a Senate majority and counter President-elect Joe Biden’s administration,” the AP reports.

“The concerns come ahead of Trump’s planned Saturday visit to Georgia to campaign alongside Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who face strong Democratic challengers in Jan. 5 runoffs that will determine which party controls the Senate at the outset of Biden’s presidency.”

In a six-figure radio ad being released in Georgia today, Donald Trump Jr. tells the state’s voters that the U.S. Senate — and his father’s accomplishments — are on the line during January’s special election, Axios reports.

Politico: “Driven by Trump’s insistence that Georgia’s elections are indelibly rife with fraud, conspiratorial MAGA figures are calling for a boycott of the two Senate runoff races, slated for Jan. 5, that will determine which party controls the upper chamber.”

“Their reason: The two GOP candidates, Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, are not only insufficiently pro-Trump, they may be complicit in Georgia’s electoral fraud.”

Washington Post: “The infighting now threatens to turn off the very Republican voters Perdue and Loeffler need to stave off challenges from their Democratic rivals, Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock.”

“Trump and his allies have repeatedly, and falsely, accused Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp, both Republicans, of presiding over a fraudulent election. Trump has pushed the baseless claim that the Dominion Voting Systems machines used in Georgia were rigged as part of a global conspiracy, and Perdue and Loeffler have called for Raffensperger’s resignation.”

“But therein lies the conundrum: Perdue and Loeffler are traveling the state pleading with Republican voters to turn out on Jan. 5 — effectively asking Trump supporters to put their faith in the same voting system their president claims was manipulated to engineer his defeat.”

CNN: Trump says he’ll travel to Georgia to support Republican senate candidates in runoff.