Welcome to the Tuesday, Jan. 5, Brew.

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. Georgia voters to decide two runoff elections - determining which party controls the U.S. Senate
2. Pelosi re-elected speaker of the House on Jan. 3
3. Candidate filing period ends Jan. 7 for special election in California state Senate district

Georgia voters to decide two runoff elections - determining which party controls the U.S. Senate

The 2020 election cycle concludes today as Georgia voters are deciding runoff elections for the state's two U.S. Senate seats. 

David Perdue (R) and Jon Ossoff (D) are running in the state’s regular election for a six-year term. Perdue was first elected to the Senate in 2014. In the Nov. 3 general election, Purdue received 49.7% of the vote to Ossoff’s 47.9%.

Incumbent Kelly Loeffler (R) and Raphael Warnock (D) are running in the special election for the remaining two years of Johnny Isakson’s (R) term. Gov. Brian Kemp (R) appointed Loeffler after Isakson resigned at the end of 2019 for health reasons.

In the 117th Congress, there are 50 Republican and 48 Democratic Senators, including two independent Senators who caucus with the Democrats. If Democrats win both runoffs, there will be 50 members of each caucus. In that instance, Kamala Harris (D) would cast tie-breaking votes, and Democrats would control the chamber. If Republicans win one or both runoffs, they would maintain their majority.

The Senate seat Perdue held is currently vacant as his term ended Jan. 3. It will remain vacant until the runoff election results are certified. Loeffler will continue to serve as Senator until either she or Warnock is certified as the special election winner. 

Georgia's last Democratic Senator, Zell Miller, left office in 2005. Republicans have had a trifecta in the state—holding the governor's office and controlling both chambers of the state legislature—since 2005. Republicans have had a triplex—holding the offices of governor, attorney general, and secretary of state—since 2011. Joe Biden is the first Democratic presidential nominee to win Georgia since Bill Clinton did so in 1992.

We've been covering the Georgia Senate runoffs closely on our site and in our daily newsletter, the Runoff Report. Click here to read previous editions of that newsletter and click the link below for more details about both of these races.

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Pelosi re-elected speaker of the House on Jan. 3 

The House elected Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as speaker of the House on Jan. 3. She previously served as House speaker from 2007 to 2010 and became House minority leader after Democrats lost control of the House following the 2010 elections. The speaker of the House presides over sessions of the chamber and is second in the line of presidential succession.

Two Democrats—Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Conor Lamb (D-Pa.)—voted for someone other than Pelosi by name. Golden voted for Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Lamb voted for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). The Constitution does not require that the speaker of the House be a current member of the House of Representatives.

Three House Democrats—Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.)—voted "present." All 209 participating Republican representatives voted for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). 

If all 435 House members vote, candidates for speaker must receive at least 218 votes to be elected. If not all members vote or some choose to vote "present," a candidate must receive a majority of support from those participating in the election. Because 427 representatives voted for someone by name, Pelosi had to receive 214 votes. She received 216 votes.

Pelosi is the sixth speaker elected since 1912 (when the House grew to 435 members) who did not receive a majority of votes of the full House. The other five speakers who were elected with fewer than 218 votes were:

• "Champ" Clark, elected in 1917 with 217 votes
• Frederick Gillett, elected in 1923 with 215 votes
• Sam Rayburn, elected in 1943 with 217 votes
• Newt Gingrich, elected in 1997 with 216 votes
• John Boehner, elected in 2015 with 216 votes.

At the beginning of the 116th Congress, the House elected Pelosi as speaker with 220 votes. That year, 15 Democrats didn't vote for her. This time around:

• Five of the 15 didn't vote for Pelosi,
• Five did vote for her,
• Three were defeated in November,
• One, Rep. Jeff Van Drew, switched parties to Republican in December 2019 and voted for McCarthy,
• One—Anthony Brindisi—is still awaiting the outcome of his re-election bid in New York's 22nd Congressional District.

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Candidate filing period ends Jan. 7 for special election in California state Senate district

While Georgia voters are deciding the final elections of the last cycle, the process for 2021 elections is already underway. For example, the filing period ends on Jan. 7—Thursday—for candidates running in a special election for California state Senate District 30. The primary election in that district is on March 2, and the general election is on May 4.

The special election was necessary after Holly Mitchell (D) left office after being elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Mitchell had served in the state Senate since 2013.

As of Jan. 4, 14 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2021 in 10 states for the following reasons:

• Nine due to the appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
• Three due to resignation
• One due to a resignation related to criminal charges
• One due to the death of the incumbent

The first two state legislative special elections of 2021 are today—Jan. 5—in Virginia. Voters in two House of Delegates districts will elect new representatives after Jennifer Foy (D) resigned to focus on running for governor and Joseph Lindsey (D) was appointed to serve as a district court judge. The current partisan composition of the House of Delegates is 53 Democrats, 45 Republicans, and two vacancies. Virginia voters will elect all 100 members of the House of Delegates in November 2021.

In addition, the filing deadline passed Jan. 4—yesterday—for candidates running for mayor of St. Louis and in a special election in District 68 of the Texas House of Representatives. Today, Jan. 5, is the filing deadline for candidates running in Wisconsin’s statewide spring elections as well as for local elections in Dane and Madison counties.

There was an average of 75 state legislative special elections each year from 2011 to 2020. 

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