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

The Georgia secretary of state’s office said late Tuesday afternoon that more than 1.4 million Election Day votes were possible by the time polls close at 7 p.m. ET in the runoff election.

“We’re projecting that that could very well be the pace if not higher,” secretary of state spokesperson Robert Sinners said, responding to an ABC News inquiry referencing reporting by The New York Times, which cited their office as saying as of 3:45 p.m. that officials expected between 120,000 and 140,000 votes to be cast per hour until the polls close and 1.014 million votes cast so far.

This exceeds earlier predictions by Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the secretary of state's office, who had said on Tuesday that between 1.1 million and 1.3 million people were likely to vote that day.

Sterling then said on CNN that the vote totals were getting close to the 1.35 million mark.

When it is all said and done, the secretary of state's office told ABC News that, with Election Day and early votes, "in total, it will be a record turnout for a midterm runoff."

Though former President Donald Trump has steered clear of Georgia during Walker's runoff campaign, Trump has been a prominent backer of the candidate.

Their decades-long relationship traces back to when Walker was a pro football player; in 1983, the Heisman Trophy winner joined the New Jersey Generals in the now-defunct United States Football League. The team was sold to Trump after the 1983 season. Herschel was signed by the Cowboys in 1986, the same year the United States Football League folded.

In 2009, Walker was a contestant on Trump's reality TV show "The Celebrity Apprentice," in a season won by Joan Rivers.

During his presidency, Trump appointed Walker to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition in 2018, and then as the council's co-chair in 2020. The Biden administration requested that Walker resign from the two-year position earlier this year due to an administration policy barring federal candidates from serving on presidential boards.

Walker entered the Republican primary in the Georgia Senate race in August 2021 at the urging of Trump, whose support largely cleared the field, and Trump prominently supported him throughout the race.

Trump backed Walker after the anti-abortion candidate denied an ex-girlfriend's claim that he paid for her to have an abortion in 2009.

In announcing his third bid for the White House last month, Trump urged voters in Georgia to support Walker, who also spoke in support of Trump at the 2020 Republican National Committee.

4:33

Inside Herschel Walker’s decades long relationship with Donald Trump: Part 2

Walker is a Trump-backed Republican favorite in one of the most closely-watched races this year. The two met in the early 80s after Walker was drafted to a team once co-owned by Donald Trump.

ABCNews.com

Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state's office, said at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon that Election Day turnout had exceeded 800,000 votes so far.

Sterling said he anticipated between 1.1 million and 1.3 million people would vote on Tuesday. Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.

"We walked in thinking we'd at least go over 1 million," Sterling said. "We're guaranteed to go over 1.1 million, probably approaching 1.2 million."

1:12

More than 800,000 Georgians cast their ballots

Officials said they anticipate between 1.1 million and 1.3 million votes to be cast on Tuesday.

WSB

ABC News on Tuesday spoke to Kirk Watkins, a voter in Buckhead, an upscale neighborhood in Atlanta where Republican Herschel Walker underperformed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in November. Watkins said he split his ticket during the general election to cast his ballot for Kemp but also for Warnock instead of Walker.

"He's a joke," Watkins said of why he didn’t support Walker. "Well, he's yet to make a statement that makes any sense. He has no policies and he's hand-selected by Trump for no particular reason. Just because.”

Kemp earned his support because he "did the right thing" by standing up to Trump's false claims about the 2020 election, Watkins said.

Other Republican voters said on Election Day they were rallying behind Walker but weren't too confident he can seal the deal. Some worried a rainy, cold day could hurt GOP turnout.

Voter Danny Alea in Marietta, part of Cobb County in metro Atlanta where Walker also underperformed Kemp, said he’s voting for Walker only because he is the only option against Warnock.

"Well, he's the only Republican choice left standing and there's just no way I can vote for Warnock," Alea said. He called his vote for Walker an "easy choice" and insisted the country is going "backwards" under Democrats.

-ABC News' Rachel Scott