Here’s why former football star Herschel Walker controls the future of net neutrality
Former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, at far right, helped the agency remove net neutrality from the books
Some states, California, New Jersey, Oregon, Colorado, Vermont, and Washington legislated net neutrality along with Puerto Rico. But a quicker way for net neutrality fans to get what they want for the entire country would be for the Senate to greenlight the nomination of Gigi Sohn. And right now, with West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin the lone Democrat refusing to support the nominee, her nomination would most likely fall short of the 51-vote majority required.
And this is where tonight’s runoff election for a Georgia Senate seat comes into play. Incumbent Senator Rafael Warnock, a Democrat, received more votes than his challenger on Election Day last month. But he fell short of the 50% tally required to be named the winner which forced today’s runoff. Warnock’s opponent is former football star, Herschel Walker. If Walker, a Republican, makes it over the goal line, Sohn most likely will not get a chance to be voted into office by the Senate.
On the other hand, a Warnock victory would give the Democrats a 51-49 edge which means that even if Senator Manchin defects, it would leave the vote tied at 50-50 with Vice President Kamela Harris casting the tie-breaking vote (most likely in favor of Sohn). Sohn, by the way, was one of the people who helped write the original net neutrality rules that the FCC adopted during the Obama administration.