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As we’re writing this, neither the U.S. House nor Senate has been won by either party. The political pundits are saying it’s most likely that Republicans will control the House when all the votes are counted, while the Senate majority comes down to whatever happens in Arizona, Nevada and Georgia.

And while the votes are being tallied in those two western states, we’ve been here before in Georgia. Once again, there’s a chance the Peach State will take on the responsibility of deciding the Senate majority when we go vote for Herschel Walker or Raphael Warnock in the upcoming Dec. 6 run-off.

However, even if both Nevada and Arizona go to one party (Arizona is being led by a Democrat, Nevada by a Republican, as we type this Friday afternoon), and the Senate majority is decided without Georgia, it’s important that voters go to the polls to decide which of these men will represent us and be our voice nationally.

Unless you live under a rock, it’s going to be hard to ignore this election. And even in that scenario, we think the campaigns would still probably figure out how to dump a truckload of mailers at your residence. 

Seemingly every television ad will focus on these two candidates, and we know we’re all tired of hearing about it. Troup County’s voting totals were actually down in 2022 when compared to the 2018 midterms. It’s understandable that some of you are worn down by all of the elections we’ve had in that timeframe, and run-off elections typically have a much smaller turnout.

For voters in District 2, there’s also an extremely important run-off election between Quay Boddie and Leon Childs for city council. One of these men will be your voice on the council, representing you and your best interests as projects and problems arise. You may never meet or speak to Warnock or Walker (though we’re guessing that you might get your chance to see both in the next month, at some point), but Boddie and Childs are a part of this community. 

We doubt there are many voters out there who are undecided in the Senate race, unless third party voters decide to make a selection between the two major candidates. There were 426 third-party votes in Troup County on Tuesday night. The Senate election will likely be won by the party that can energize its voter base to participate, as it’s likely the vote totals will be less than what we just saw Tuesday night, just because interest level typically dips some for a run-off.  It’s doubtful many who voted for Walker are going to flip to Warnock, or vise versa. But without a governor’s race on the ballot, how many voters are going to engage again during the holiday season to go to the polls?

It’s in your best interest to be engaged and to make a plan to vote. Don’t sit on the sidelines and let someone else decide for you.