In three weeks, an election will take place that could be as important as the presidential vote in determining the course of the next four years.

The Jan. 5 runoff elections in Georgia will determine whether two Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, keep their seats. If their Democratic challengers, Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, both win, Democrats would claim control of the Senate, giving President-Elect Joe Biden expanded power to realize his policy agenda.

Today, we offer a guide to the two Senate races in Georgia.




Guest: Astead W. Herndon, a national political reporter for The New York Times.




For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.




Background reading:

• In the runoffs, Republicans are focusing attacks on the Rev. Raphael Warnock, portraying him as radical, a claim he has rejected.
• Some Atlanta suburbs that used to be “blood red” went blue in November. After helping deliver the presidency to Democrats, we examined whether they might give them the Senate, too.