Election denial, banned reporters and few masks: Inside the ‘sad’ Republican watch party in Georgia

Republicans had reportedly blocked Georgia Public Broadcasting from reporting on the election night event, which the organisation said was ‘disturbing and against the spirit of the First Amendment’

It was a downbeat Republican crowd at an election night party in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday as the Senate runoff results emerged in favour of the Democratic challengers, and the tone changed to one of denial. 

The party emptied out around midnight, according to reports, after Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler refused to acknowledge her defeat to Democrat, Reverend Raphael Warnock.

By that point the crowd had already thinned-out, having listened to tracks such as “Owner of a Lonely Heart” by Yes, with the lyrics: “Take your chances, win or loser.”

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Another song, “On the Road Again” by Willie Nelson, was also heard playing at the watch party, held at the Grand Hyatt, an upmarket hotel in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighbourhood. 

Most attendees were not wearing masks. Georgia has seen an 8.1 per cent rise in coronavirus infections in the past week, as well as cases of the new, and more infectious, Covid variant, as according to the Covid Tracking Project. 

One user on social media mocked the watch party, writing: “The Georgia GOP election night party for Perdue and Loeffler is literally a bunch of people standing around in a ballroom without masks, watching a webpage not refresh.”

Another wrote: "If you get bored during a commercial break, you can watch Fox’s live-stream of people not wearing masks at the Georgia GOP election night party."

Republicans had reportedly blocked Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) from reporting on the election night event, which the organisation said was “disturbing and against the spirit of the First Amendment.”

GPB director Josephine Bennett told The Associated Press that she did not know why its reporters were not being allowed to cover the watch party, which was instead broadcast live by Fox News.

The outlet said in a statement: “When you deny GPB access to such a historic event, you also deny every Georgian living in the state’s 159 counties.”

In a short address around midnight, Sen. Loeffler told supporters she would not concede, and said: “We’re going to win this election. We’re going to save this country. That’s right”.

“You guys are awesome, thank you so much. It took every single person in this room to get where we are right now. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she continued.

The senator was introduced to the stage by US agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue whose first cousin, Georgia Senator David Perdue, also seemed to be headed toward a loss. His opponent Democrat Jon Ossoff, declared himself the winner on Wednesday although the result was not yet official.

Senator Perdue did not appear at the watch party in Atlanta. He has been in quarantine following an exposure to a campaign worker infected with the coronavirus last week.

John Burke, a Perdue spokesperson, said that the race was “going to be close”, adding: “We’ll see how the last few votes go.”

Mr Ossoff would become the first Jewish man from Georgia elected to the Senate if he wins.

Reverend Warnock will become the 11th Black Senator in history, and the first Black man from Georgia elected to the Senate.

If the Democrats win both seats, the Republican party’s control over the US senate will end.