Ga. Senate runoff live updates: Warnock celebrates win, Walker admits defeat

The election was the final battle of the 2022 midterms.

Last Updated: December 27, 2022, 10:47 AM EST

Georgia's Senate runoff between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker came to a close on Tuesday, with Warnock projected by ABC News to defeat Walker, after more than a year of campaigning, multiple controversies and record-breaking turnout.

While the race didn't determine control of the Senate, it did increase Democrats' power in the chamber -- where Vice President Kamala Harris currently has to break ties -- rather than see the Republicans win a 50th seat and create procedural obstacles.

Walker, a businessman and local football legend, and Warnock, a noted reverend in Atlanta, first faced off in November's general election. But neither got 50% of the vote as required by state law, leading to Tuesday's runoff after about a week of early voting.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Dec 06, 2022, 4:05 PM EST

Warnock: 'We're leaving it all on the field'

At an Election Day canvass launch in the metro Atlanta suburb Norcross, Sen. Warnock told supporters not to get deterred by the light rain and to show up big at the polls.

"We're not leaving anything to chance which is why we're standing out here getting sprinkled and baptized. We're leaving it all on the field. But I got a feeling that the people of Georgia are gonna get this right and we're gonna get this done one more time," Warnock said to cheers.

Still, he told supporters not to "rest on our laurels," arguing there was still a pathway to victory for Walker.

"More of our voters tend to vote during the early period. And more of [Walker's] voters tend to vote on Election Day. So if you haven't voted, by all means vote," Warnock said. "And if you've already voted, your job still isn't done until everybody in your circle [votes]."

Rev. Raphael Warnock speaks with reporters in Norcross, Ga., on Dec. 6, 2022.
Sue Dorfman/ZUMA Press Wire

Warnock said he wasn't thinking about the Senate majority heading into election night.

"I know folks are doing all the other calculations and that's fine. But this really is about who's going to represent Georgia," he said.

Asked about his reaction to Walker's comments that he will "put my character up against Raphael Warnock any day," Warnock told ABC News, "My opponent says many things. You can't believe any of it."

Dec 06, 2022, 7:48 PM EST

Walker campaign decides to not address latest accusation of past domestic violence

In the final days of his Senate campaign, Walker declined to respond when asked on the trail about claims from an alleged former ex-girlfriend that he had a history of pathological lying, manipulation and violence.

On Thursday, during his first event following a report from The Daily Beast that included an interview with the woman, Cheryl Parsa, Walker delivered a standard stump speech without taking any questions from reporters.

After the rally, campaign staffers told ABC News they were not engaging with the Daily Beast story, contending that it was not gaining traction and that they were focused on winning the election.

On Sunday, NBC News aired an interview with Parsa, who has claimed Walker physically assaulted her during a five-year relationship. Parsa reiterated to NBC News an account she gave the Daily Beast about when Walker allegedly became violent, attacking her in 2005.

At a campaign event after the broadcast, the campaign again declined to comment.

Walker has previously denied accounts from other women that he paid for their abortions. He is running as a staunchly anti-abortion candidate.

"Democrats will say and do anything to hang on to power. Well, I'm Herschel Walker, and they picked the wrong Georgian to mess with. I'm not backing down the stakes are too high," Walker said in a statement in October.

Years before he ran for the Senate, while promoting a memoir about having dissociative identity disorder, he did not deny an account from ex-wife Cindy Grossman that he became violent during their marriage.

Dec 06, 2022, 2:30 PM EST

Top official says Election Day 'running smoothly,' turnout 'steady'

A top election official in Georgia’s secretary of state's office, Gabriel Sterling, said Tuesday on social media that Election Day voting was "running smoothly" and that, as of around noon local time, the average wait to vote statewide was down to one minute.

Sterling, the deputy interim secretary of state, wrote on Twitter that his office estimated more than 250,000 Georgians had cast their ballots that morning, calling the turnout "steady."

Local residents wait in line to cast their ballot during the runoff U.S. Senate election between Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker in Atlanta, Dec. 6, 2022.
Carlos Barria/Reuters

On Friday alone, the last day of early voting for the Senate runoff, 352,953 people cast ballots, according to state elections data -- bringing the total number of early votes, either in person or absentee, to more than 1.8 million -- shattering early in-person voting records for the state.

Republicans are hoping for a high Election Day turnout as data indicates that more Democrats got out the vote early.

-ABC News' Libby Cathey

Dec 06, 2022, 12:31 PM EST

Walker dodges Warnock's attacks on his character

ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott asked Herschel Walker on Election Day about his rival questioning his character and competence -- and if he was confident that he could flip Sen. Raphael Warnock's seat.

"I'm not going to answer that," Walker said, repeating a version anytime he was presented with his opponent's name. "We're going out to win this election. So this election, I'm telling people to get out to vote."

"Hershel Walker is going to be your senator, and we're going to get things changed," Walker added.

Local residents wait in line to cast their ballot during the runoff U.S. Senate election between Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker in Atlanta, Dec. 6, 2022.
Carlos Barria/Reuters

When pressed further, Walker said, "The reason I'm not going to address that is because it doesn't need to be addressed ... Right now, I'll put my character against Raphael Warnock any day. Right now, I've done a lot of things."

Walker's strategy in the final stretch has been to link Warnock to President Joe Biden, labeling him a "rubber stamp" for Biden's agenda, a characterization Warnock has rejected.

"I am the 18th most bipartisan senator in the Senate. Period," Warnock told Scott on Monday. "Now I know that’s an inconvenient fact for Mr. Walker. We also know that he’s allergic to facts, even the facts about his own life."

-ABC News' Libby Cathey

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