US election 2020: Why Republicans are fighting in Georgia

President Trump's supporters staged a rally against the election results outside the Georgia State Capitol

The presidential election is over, and President-elect Joe Biden will be heading to the White House in January. But in Georgia, there are two more key political battles still under way.

All of the so-called battleground states have certified their results for the presidency, but next month, the outcomes of two critical US Senate races will determine the upper chamber's balance of power.

Early voting began on Monday in the southern state for these 5 January run-off races that will shape Mr Biden's first term.

Here's what you need to know.

What's the story in the Senate?

The Peach State currently has two separate Senate races in progress ahead of its 5 January run-off elections. Under Georgia law, when no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two candidates compete against each other in a later race, called a run-off.

Georgia residents had to register to vote by 7 December, before the state holds three weeks of early voting, beginning on 14 December.

In both races, we have a Republican incumbent squaring off against a Democratic newcomer. Senator David Perdue, 70, will compete against Jon Ossoff, 33, a documentary filmmaker. And Senator Kelly Loeffler, 50, is facing off with Reverend Raphael Warnock, 51, a senior pastor at an Atlanta Baptist Church. Recent polls show Mr Warnock pulling ahead of Ms Loeffler and the Perdue-Ossoff race in a dead-heat.

Currently, Democrats control the lower chamber, the House of Representatives, and Republicans hold a majority in the upper chamber - 52 to 48.

If the Democrats win both seats in January, the Senate would be evenly divided between parties. But this is still a win for Democrats. US vice-presidents have the power to cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate, meaning that with Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris on board, Democrats would effectively control both chambers. That could make all the difference as the Biden administration seeks to work through its agenda.

Why are Republicans fighting so hard for Georgia?

While the presidential election results were full of disappointments for Donald Trump, losing Georgia may have been the unkindest cut.

Like Arizona, the state hadn't been carried by a Democrat since 1992. But unlike that desert state, Georgia wasn't considered an electoral battleground until the campaign's final weeks.

That, along with the narrowness of the Biden lead in the state, may be why the Trump team has fought so furiously to flip the state to his column - even if it means going to war with local Republicans overseeing the state's election.

The president's efforts to cast doubt on the results in Georgia are complicated by the fact that the state's two runoff contests in January will decide control of the US Senate. The more he feuds with his own party in the state, the greater the risk division will lead to Republican defeat.

Trump is making Georgia his first presidential visit since the election. The stated purpose is to campaign for the two Republican incumbent senators, but he is sure to continue to call into question the presidential verdict in the state.

Reversing the election results has proven to be a futile battle, but it seems the only thing worse for this president than actual defeat is appearing to accept it.

Meet the candidates

Raphael Warnock (left) and Jon Ossoff are the Democratic candidates for Georgia's seats

Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are the names for the Republican Party

• Jon Ossoff, launched his campaign with an endorsement from Democratic superstar and civil rights champion John Lewis, who died this summer. Before taking the reins of a documentary film company, Insight TWI, he spent five years working for Congressman Hank Johnson, an Atlanta Democrat. He has employed his filmmaking skills on the trail, launching campaign accounts on both Snapchat and TikTok.

• David Perdue has served as a Georgia senator since 2015. The former Reebok CEO was an early supporter of Donald Trump, and has remained an ally to the president. He is now facing scrutiny over multimillion dollar stock trades in companies whose business falls under his purview on Senate committees.

• Reverend Raphael Warnock is a pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr once preached. Along with Democratic rising star Stacy Abrams, he started the New Georgia Project, a voting rights organisation. The group is now under investigation for allegedly sending ballot applications to non-residents.

• Kelly Loeffler, the junior Georgia senator, is still a political newcomer. She was named to the US Senate in December 2019 by Governor Brian Kemp after the sitting senator resigned. One of the wealthiest members of the Senate, Ms Loeffler is co-owner of the women's NBA team the Atlanta Dream. The ownership has caused a stir after the league's players called for Ms Loeffler to sell her stake over her vocal opposition to Black Lives Matter.

Gloves off

With the country's gaze now turned to Georgia, tensions have been rising.

Hours before early voting kicked off on 14 Decemer, Mr Trump attacked the state's Republican governor in a tweet, again claiming without evidence that fraud in the presidential election would also affect the senate races.

Calling Mr Kemp a "fool", Mr Trump demanded the governor call a "Special Session and open up signature verification".

"Otherwise, could be a bad day for two GREAT Senators on January 5th."

Mr Trump's own justice department has found no proof to back his claims of widespread fraud.

Some Republicans are said to be concerned that Mr Trump's unsubstantiated claims will depress his party's turnout in the runoffs, and hurt the Republican incumbents.

Election official Gabriel Sterling has said that Mr Trump will bear responsibility for any violence that results from unsubstantiated election fraud theories that he has promoted.

"It's all gone too far," Mr Sterling said, citing intimidation and death threats to poll workers. "It has to stop!"

There's conflict within parties, too. Mr Perdue and Ms Loeffler last month penned a joined statement calling on Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, to resign, after he defended the state's election process, and named Mr Biden the winner.

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