Romney to stump in Georgia

Mitt Romney announced today that he's going to Georgia to help fellow Republican Saxby Chambliss hang on to his Senate seat.

Romney -- the former Massachusetts governor who sought the Republican presidential nomination this year and could well do so again in 2012 -- plans to appear at rallies on Friday in Atlanta and Savannah, as well as at a series of private event fundraisers.

His political action committee, Free and Strong America, has already given Chambliss $5,000 to aid his runoff campaign against Democrat Jim Martin after giving him $2,300 during the fall campaign. Neither candidate won a majority of the vote on Nov. 4 because of a third-party contender, so are in a Dec. 2 runoff.

Counting two independents who usually vote with Democrats, they now control 57 seats in the Senate that will take office in January, with the races in Georgia, Minnesota, and Alaska still undecided. If they reach 60 votes, that potentially could thwart filibusters and make it easier for President-elect Barack Obama push through his legislation.

“This is a critical election whose outcome will be important to maintaining a balance of power in the Senate,” Romney said in a statement. “It is critical that Republicans safely retain the ability to filibuster in order to prevent the worst abuses of single party rule.”