Obama and John Legend team up for Jon Ossoff ad ahead of Georgia runoffs

Barack Obama and John Legend have teamed up in a new campaign ad for Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff.

Mr Ossoff is running against incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue in a runoff election on 5 January after neither candidate achieved 50 per cent of the vote during the 3 November general election.

The ad features the former president thanking Georgia for stepping up and sending a message for change in the general election.

In the background, Grammy Award-winning artist Legend plays the piano and sings Georgia On My Mind over a montage of Georgians responding to 2020 events including the coronavirus pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests, and economic hardship, leading up to November’s election.

"When the moment came to reject fear and division and send a message for change, Georgia stepped up,” says Mr Obama, referring to the state electing Joe Biden, the first Democrat to win Georgia since 1992.

“Now, America is counting on you again,” he continues. “You can send Jon Ossoff to the Senate to beat this virus and rebuild our economy. To make sure everybody can afford healthcare."

“And to carry the torch John Lewis passed to us with a new voting rights act that secures equal justice for all,” he adds, referencing the veteran civil rights activist who represented the state’s fifth congressional district for more than 30 years until his passing in 2020.

“Georgia, you have the power, and now it’s time to vote,” the former president concludes.

While the Ossoff-Perdue race was a regularly scheduled election, the state’s other Senate seat is also going through a special election runoff.

As Senator Kelly Loeffler was appointed to the seat in November 2019 after the resignation of Senator Johnny Isakson, she also had to compete in the 3 November election. She also failed to win a majority leading to a runoff.

She now faces off against Democrat Reverend Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at the Atlanta church where Dr Martin Luther King Jr preached.

Polls show both races as being incredibly close. Republicans want to retain control of the Senate to act as a check on the Biden presidency, while Democrats must win both races for the upper chamber of Congress to split 50:50 between the parties.

Vice president-elect Kamala Harris can then act as a tiebreaker in her role as President of the Senate after inauguration day in January, allowing for the Biden administration’s legislative efforts to move forward.

Money is flooding into the state for both races, with Republicans and Democrats bringing in the big hitters from both parties as surrogates to back up the candidates.

Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Joe Biden and Ms Harris have all campaigned in the state as well as former president Obama and his wife Michelle. Democrats have also brought out celebrities including Mr Legend to help get out the vote.

A record number of Georgians have already cast their ballots in early voting — already totalling more votes than in any previous runoff elections.

Georgia On My Mind was first written in 1930 and made famous by Ray Charles on his 1960 album The Genius Hits the Road.

In 1979 the state designated Charles’ version as the official state song.