“Top Republicans in Washington are reluctant to call Joe Biden the president-elect publicly, fearing a rebellion by grassroots conservatives loyal to President Trump that would sink the party’s Senate majority,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“Republican insiders privately concede Biden ousted Trump and dismiss suggestions voter fraud, ballot errors, or other issues would be uncovered sufficient to alter the election. But with the president claiming otherwise and two Georgia runoff elections set for January that will decide the Senate majority, plus midterm elections in 2022, most congressional Republicans are backing Trump. The move is purely transactional.”

Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) and challenger Jon Ossoff (D) will head to a runoff race after neither candidate received 50 percent of the vote, Edison Research projects, the Washington Post reports.

“Georgia election rules require a candidate to get to 50 percent to win outright.”

In the special election for the state’s other Senate seat, a runoff will pit Raphael Warnock (D) against Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R), who was appointed to the seat.

“Democrats have not traditionally performed well in runoffs in the state, and the top of the ticket will not be on the ballot in January to help turn out voters for down-ballot races.”

Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) released a statement as it becomes more likely his reelection race will advance to a runoff: “If overtime is required when all of the votes have been counted, we’re ready, and we will win.”

Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) withdrew from the final debate in his tight re-election race, a day after Jon Ossoff (D) called him a “crook” and accused the vulnerable Republican of trying to profit from the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Times reports.

Ossoff announced Perdue’s cancellation on Twitter: “At last night’s debate, millions saw that Perdue had no answers when I called him out on his record of blatant corruption, widespread disease, and economic devastation. Shame on you, Senator.”

Georgia Senate candidate Jon Ossoff (D) launched a blistering attack on Sen. David Perdue’s (R) record on health care and the coronavirus pandemic at a televised debate.

Said Ossoff: “It’s not just that you’re a crook… you’re attacking the health of those you represent.”

He added: “You did say COVID-19 was no deadlier than the flu, you did say there would be no uptick in cases. All the while, you were looking after your own assets, and your own portfolio. And you did vote four times to end protections for pre-existing conditions.”

Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) said Wednesday that she doesn’t disagree with anything President Trump has said or done, 11 Alive reports.

“Earlier this month during a debate, Loeffler was asked if President Trump had ever said or done anything she’d disagreed with. Her answer was emphatically ‘no.'”

“Loeffler told reporters Wednesday that she doesn’t know anything about an Access Hollywood tape made in 2005 in which Trump described sexually assaulting women. This came up again after Loeffler said she doesn’t disagree with anything Trump has said or done.”

A new Atlanta Journal Constitution poll finds Sen. David Perdue (R) is essentially tied with Jon Ossoff (D), with the Republican incumbent at 45% and his challenger at 46%. About 4% back Libertarian Shane Hazel, and 5% are undecided. The close margins raise the possibility the race could head into a January runoff.

“Another round of voting is almost certain in the special election for U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s seat, where the 21-candidate race makes it extremely difficult for anyone to win the majority-vote necessary to avoid the runoff.”

“Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) inadvertently sparked a movement that benefited his rival’s campaign when he mocked the pronunciation of Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ name,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

“But the repeated mispronunciation, which his campaign claimed was not purposeful, competed for media attention with Trump’s remarks in Georgia and led to searing criticism on the airwaves and the campaign trail.”

“By Sunday evening, Democrat Jon Ossoff said he raised more than $1.8 million from at least 42,000 donors from Perdue’s viral moment.”

CNN: “It’s a scenario that GOP leaders have been privately fearing for months — and one they had sought to avoid at the beginning of the year. In private, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had counseled his top lieutenants and even President Trump to ensure the party would unite behind one candidate and avoid a messy internecine battle that could imperil the crucial Senate seat.”

“The race presents challenges unlike any other in the country. Since it’s a special election, there is no primary. So to win the November election outright, a candidate must surpass 50% of the vote; if not, the top two candidates face off in a January runoff. Since it’s unlikely that any candidate will reach the 50 percent threshold, both [Rep. Doug] Collins and [Sen. Kelly] Loeffler have been competing intensely to make the runoff by wooing Republican voters and appealing to the conservative base, which represents a slice of the state’s 6.9 million registered voters.”

“That has created an opening for the leading Democratic candidate, Rev. Raphael Warnock, who has been mostly unscathed amid the daily slugfest between Collins and Loeffler, and was rewarded with a Friday fundraiser led by former President Barack Obama.”

Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) mocked Sen. Kamala Harris’ name as “Kamala-mala-mala-whatever” at a rally for President Trump.

They have served together in the U.S. Senate for nearly four years, so he knows how to properly pronounce her name.

Politico: “Mispronouncing Harris’ first name has become a common attack within the Trump camp. The president routinely does so in a mocking way during his political rallies, even though he has correctly said it in less rowdy settings.”

More than $151 million has been spent so far on TV and radio ads in the twin U.S. Senate races in Georgia, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

Former Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) endorsed Doug Collins’ (R) bid for U.S. Senate, making him the most prominent state Republican to support the four-term congressman’s challenge to Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) in a nasty fight that has divided the Georgia GOP, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

“Barack Obama endorsed Raphael Warnock’s (D) U.S. Senate campaign, becoming the latest Democrat to rally behind the pastor’s challenge to Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) as pressure mounts on his rivals to drop out of the free-for-all race,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

“The development comes as Warnock aims to consolidate Democrats behind his campaign – and his allies urge Matt Lieberman (D), another Democrat in the contest, to abandon his bid.”

After Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) compared herself to “Attilla the Hun” in a new ad, her leading Republican opponent, Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), put out a fact sheet and launched a new website.

With Sen. David Perdue’s (R-GA) re-election chances teetering on a knife’s edge, the Republican is talking more about himself as a ‘bipartisan problem solver’ — and less about his reputation as one of President Trump’s most loyal allies, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

“Being one of Trump’s most loyal allies in the U.S. Senate might have helped him avoid a primary challenger in June. But to win in November, Perdue is trying to cast himself as a consensus builder who will defend capitalism.”

Georgia Senate candidate Matt Lieberman (D) “wrote and self-published a deeply bizarre novel in 2018, featuring a main character who believes that for most of his life he owned an imaginary slave who could communicate with plants and animals,” the HuffPost reports.

Lieberman, son of former Sen. Joe Lieberman, is running in the all-party special election to replace Sen. Johnny Isakson (R), who retired in 2018.

Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) deleted a Facebook ad targeting his Jewish election opponent, Jon Ossoff (D), that appeared to have been altered to make Ossoff’s nose bigger, the Forward reports.