Will Ossoff or Warnock be Georgia’s senior senator? The answer is a simple one
Sen. Jon Ossoff, the youngest sitting member of the chamber, will serve as Georgia’s senior U.S. Senator. And it wasn’t decided by a coin flip, a foot race or a game of rock, paper, scissors.
Ossoff, 33, held a seniority tiebreaker over Senator-elect Raphael Warnock, the 51-year-old senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. The reason — “O” comes before “W” in the alphabet.
Daniel S. Holt, an assistant historian at the U.S. Senate Historical Office, told the Ledger-Enquirer and Telegraph in an email Friday morning that alphabetical order determined which of the two men would serve as Georgia’s senior Senator.
“I have been informed that the Democratic caucus has ranked Ossoff and Warnock according to alphabetical order,” he said.
U.S. Senate tiebreakers
The Senate determines seniority based on former government service and then state population. The highest-ranking goes to those with previous service in the Senate. The order is as follows:
- Senator
- Vice President
- House member
- Cabinet secretary
- Governor
For those with no service in these categories, seniority is calculated according to state population, from largest to smallest. Ossoff and Warnock have no prior government experience and will represent the same state. The tiebreak in this case then fell to alphabetical order.
Seniority within the chamber determines everything from committee assignment to office space. Ossoff will serve a full six-year term, while Warnock’s remaining term will last two years. Democrats hold an effective majority in the Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris casting tie-breaking voters if members vote along party lines.
Ossoff and Warnock’s victories were certified by Georgia’s Secretary of State Tuesday morning. Following their swearing-in, Georgia is represented by two Democratic senators for the first time since 2003.
Note: This story has been updated with confirmation of Ossoff’s senior status.
This story was originally published January 20, 2021 at 2:01 PM.