Rev. Raphael Warnock has won a full six year term to the U.S. Senate in Georgia’s runoff election giving Democrats a 51-49 advantage. The victory gives the Democrats a bit of breathing room to get things done just in case WV Senator Joe Manchin decides to 'flip out'.
Warnock held a 98,000 vote lead over challenger Herschel Walker, former President Trump’s hand picked candidate, with 95 percent of the counted. Experts decided to call the race because the Warnock's lead exceeded the outstanding votes.
Georgia's runoff was the first time that two African American candidates faced off as nominees of the U.S.'s two major political parties. The race closes out a difficult midterm election cycle for Republicans – who won the House majority but saw their hopes for Capitol Hill dominance dashed by the troubled candidacies of some Trump-backed Senate nominees.
In his victory speech, Warnock alluded to the fact that the runoff was his fourth campaign in two years. “After a hard-fought campaign – or should I say campaigns – it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy: The people have spoken.”
“I often say that a vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children,” Warnock continued. “You have put in the hard work and here we are standing together.”
The recriminations arrived swiftly for the GOP late Tuesday night.
“The only way to explain this is candidate quality,” Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said on CNN, noting the delta between Gov. Brian Kemp’s November victory.