WASHINGTON, November 5 (RIA Novosti) — News images of Islamic State (IS) jihadists beheading journalists helped Republican David Perdue defeat Democrat Michelle Nunn in Georgia’s Senate race on Tuesday, Henry Carey, political expert told RIA Novosti.
"War and peace issues do trump others when they are salient,” Carey, Professor of political science at Georgia State University said. “But Nunn was even in the polls for Senate in the middle of October, and two weeks later she didn't have a prayer. It just started from those beheadings.”
Carey added that President Barack Obama was being criticized for not responding forcefully enough to the expansion of IS in Iraq and Syria which harmed Nunn at the polls.
Tuesday’s elections will determine 36 senate seats. The Republicans need to secure 51 out of 100 seats to control the upper house of US Congress, where Democrats currently have a 55 — 45 majority.
According to NBC News, the GOP is also projected to maintain a majority in the US House of Representatives. Early projections show Republicans could add 10 seats to their current majority of 233 seats. All 435 seats of the House are up for reelection.