Georgia Senate race advances to December runoff that may determine majority
Georgia's nationally watched U.S. Senate race between Democrat incumbent Rev. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker, which could decide what party controls the upper chamber, will proceed to a runoff election.
With 98% of the vote reported, neither Warnock nor Walker have garnered 50% of the vote, the required threshold under state law to win the election outright. A runoff election will take place on Dec. 6.
"If you can hang in, hang in there a little bit longer, just hang in there a little bit longer, because something good, it takes a while for it get better. And it's going to get better," said Walker, a former NFL player, on Tuesday evening. "So I wanted to thank you guys for hanging in."
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In a tweet posted in the very early hours of Wednesday, Warnock struck a confident tone, saying that "we are going to have received more votes than my opponent."
"And whether we need to work all night, through tomorrow, or for four more weeks, we will do what we need to and bring this home."
As for Wednesday afternoon, Warnock garnered 49.4% of the vote, while Walker earned 48.5%.
The Georgia Senate race has been hotly contested. Warnock's runoff victory in January 2021 over Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler gave Democrats the slight majority in Congress, with Vice President Kamala Harris being the tiebreaking vote during Biden's first two years in office.
With control of the Senate likely to come down to the wire again, the Georgia race could determine which major political party holds a narrow majority in the next Congress.
Both Warnock and Walker have garnered controversy, facing allegations against their moral characters and claims of hypocrisy.
Warnock, who serves as lead pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta, faced accusations that his church attempted to evict several people from an apartment complex that it held majority ownership over.
In October, The Washington Free Beacon published documents backing up the allegations, which noted that the paperwork referred to Warnock as the "principal officer" of the foundation that manages the complex.
In the same month, The Daily Beast published a report with documents that accused Walker, who campaigned on a pro-life platform, of paying for his girlfriend's abortion in 2009.
Walker vehemently denied the allegations, calling it a "flat-out lie" and "another repugnant hatchet job from a democrat activist disguised as a reporter."
Warnock's ex-wife, Oulèye Ndoye, submitted a court filing this year suggesting that he "refused to reimburse" her for "childcare expenses for the children" materialized during periods when he had custody of their children.
