CNN predicts Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock will win Georgia’s Senate runoff, giving Democrats more Senate power next year and dealing a major blow to former President Donald Trump when another of his hand-picked candidates loses.
Warnock defeated Republican Herschel Walker, giving Democrats 51 seats to the GOP’s 49.
Republicans won the House but lost Capitol Hill dominance when some Trump-backed Senate nominations faltered.
“There are no excuses in life and I’m not going to make any now because we put up one heck of a fight,” Walker told supporters after phoning Warnock.
The runoff was a final midterm test of the former president’s influence as he runs for a third term. After President Joe Biden narrowly carried the state in 2020 and two Senate runoff wins gave him a Democratic Senate in 2021, Georgia is officially a purple state.
Warnock noted the runoff was his fourth campaign in two years in his victory speech. “After a hard-fought campaign—or campaigns—it is my honor to speak 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 our children,” Warnock continued. “You worked hard and here we are.”
GOP recriminations came last Tuesday night.
On CNN, Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan noted the gap between Gov. Brian Kemp’s November victory and Walker’s likely finish.
He hoped Warnock’s win would awaken the GOP. “If we don’t take our medicine here, we’re responsible. Donald Trump should be held accountable by all Republicans.”
Many Republicans attributed Tuesday night’s close race to Kemp’s rescue of Walker in the runoff after staying away during last month’s general election. He campaigned and used his turnout operation to help the GOP Senate nominee.
Sen. Raphael Warnock.
Georgia’s Warnock-Walker Senate runoff: 5 things to watch.
Democratic control of the Senate next year was settled by hard-fought contests in Nevada, where Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto held on despite economic headwinds, and Pennsylvania, where Democrat John Fetterman won a GOP-held seat.
Vice President Kamala Harris has broken 50-50 Senate ties. That has empowered moderate Democratic senators like West Virginia’s Joe Manchin and Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema, who have often thwarted their party’s goals. Warnock’s six-year term will let Democrats end their power-sharing agreement with Republicans and advance Biden’s nominees.
In last month’s general election, Warnock won more votes than Walker but not a majority. According to impact, Democrats spent twice as much as Republicans in the runoff, which attracted over $80 million in advertising.
CNN polled Warnock ahead of Walker last week. After several scandals, voters distrusted Walker. Despite campaigning for abortion bans without exceptions, he denies pressuring women to have abortions. CNN’s KFile reported that he is receiving a tax break for a primary residence this year in his Dallas, Texas, home while running for the Georgia seat.
Last week, the state set single-day early voting records, but the early voting period was shortened from 2021. In 2022, 1.87 million voters compared to 3.1 million last year. Black voters strongly favored Warnock in CNN’s poll, giving Democrats hope. According to the Georgia Secretary of State, they made up 32% of early voting.
Walker expected high GOP turnout on Election Day.
Trump, like Biden, avoided Georgia during the runoff, but voters rejected many of his election-denying candidates in swing states, complicating GOP fortunes nationwide.
Two years ago, his efforts to cast doubt on mail-in ballots and vote counting contributed to the GOP’s 2021 losses in twin runoffs that gave Democrats control of the Senate in Georgia.
In the primary, voters rejected the former president’s attempts to avenge Kemp’s refusal to overturn the 2020 election. Kemp defeated Stacey Abrams last month with 200,000 more votes than Walker.
After losses in Arizona and Pennsylvania, top Republicans are planning a more aggressive push to support electable primary candidates. Montana Sen. Steve Daines, the incoming National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman, told CNN: “Clearly you want to see candidates who can win general elections and we’re going to keep working that in.”
Updated.
