Democrat Raphael Warnock Defeats Republican Herschel Walker in Georgia Senate Runoff Battle

Warnock was beating Walker by about one percent with 92 percent of precincts reporting at the time of this writing. Networks including CNN and NBC called the race about three hours after polls closed.

The race marks the end of a disappointing Senate midterm run for Republicans, who had been highly optimistic about a possible red wave this year. The GOP’s hopes were first dashed in November when Democrats secured the majority for next year, but now, with Warnock’s win, Democrats will not only have a 51–49 advantage, but they will not be subject to power-sharing agreements with Republicans that a deadlocked Senate would have necessitated.

Warnock’s victory comes after the Georgia Democrat narrowly beat Walker by less than one percent in the general election but did not cross the 50 percent threshold required by state law to win the race outright.